Rain of a Child's Tear
by Bart Hibbs
Summary: Two months after Elsa's coronation, she decides to have a Royal Ball in a new ice palace. One guest has a problem; a magical disaster has befallen his Kingdom. Elsa agrees to help, only to find she cannot lift the curse, and a child poisoned by black magic, his only hope being the love of his best friend. Elsa magic, other magic, sister love, Kristanna, quests and monsters.
1. The Overlook

Elsa set the letter aside. "Who's next?" She combed a hand through her snowy hair and sighed.

Chancellor Johan looked through the replies sitting on the table between he and the Queen, selected one with his long, delicate fingers, and handed her the letter. "Your Majesty, the next reply came from King Ragnar of Cliffdale. He accepted the invitation to your ball, and included one of the more interesting requests we received."

"Oh?"

Johan stroked his short charcoal beard. If anything, the beard made his long face appear even longer. "Apparently, his kingdom's main village has fallen under some sort of magical curse. He is hoping you can help."

Elsa read the letter with some confusion showing in her blue-grey eyes. "I don't see how. I know little of magic."

"However, you _are_ magical. I suppose King Ragnar may not know where else to turn."

She thought about the Chancellor's comment, letting her gaze wander about their small room. Positioned adjacent to the throne room, the chamber was well lit by the early fall sun streaming through a high window. With heavy wall hangings and thick carpet, it provided a quiet place for working through the affairs of the realm. "Very well. I should have time at the ball to confer with him. Who's next?"

As Johan reached for another reply, Elsa's younger sister, Anna, burst into the room. "It's done!" she said with a bright smile.

Elsa turned. "What? The new road?"

"Yes. It's all done. Well, maybe not _completely_ done. There are still a few workers doing things, but we can get everything up it. We can leave as soon as you want."

Elsa wanted _now_. Going through the guest list had grown tiresome. She followed Anna through the throne room and palace, outside to the courtyard. "The supplies are all loaded?"

"All loaded, along with the servants. We have so much to move that I needed to hire some extra help. I'm so excited! I've been waiting for this all month!"

Walking across the courtyard, they viewed a small horse and cart convoy, laden with supplies and servants. Two servants brought horses to the sisters.

"I'm relieved we can get the preparations done today," Elsa said. "I would hate to have to do this tomorrow, same day as the ball."

"We could have made it work," Anna replied. She mounted her horse, a white stallion with a coat fading to grey at the legs, nose, and tail, and rode toward the convoy's rear.

Elsa mounted her coal black mare, glad she had chosen to wear sensible clothes today, rather than more formal wear, or the now-famous, so-called 'ice gown'. She noticed Anna's boyfriend, Kristoff, near the convoy's rear, and surmised that Anna had hired him on to help move supplies.

Elsa rode to the front of the convoy, and they set off along the causeway connecting the castle to the mainland, then through the small village of Arendelle. The convoy proceeded along the main road through town, and into the valley at the eastern end of the fjord.

At the rear, Anna moved alongside Kristoff. "Sven does not look pleased," she observed.

Kristoff lowered his voice, pretending to talk for his reindeer, "_I don't like pulling a cart. I want my sled._" With his normal voice the ice merchant answered back, "but Sven, we have not had much snow this year, not counting Elsa's."

Anna smiled. "Don't worry Sven, we should get some snow soon." Sven stared at her, raised a hairy eyebrow, shook his head and snorted.

Kristoff smiled at Anna, the wind blowing through his blond hair. A good-looking young man, his years harvesting and delivering ice had given him a strong, muscular build. He had a fair complexion with a dusting of freckles and light brown eyes. "So why a Michaelmas festival party?" he asked. "Is celebrating the cows being brought home from their summer pastures really worth a royal ball?"

Anna gave a small sigh. "It's not about Michaelmas. We decided on that date so we could call the event 'The Arendelle Michaelmas Ball'. We are hoping to mend some fences, and satisfy people's curiosity about Elsa and her Power. Most accept her, but not all. Many people were upset after the events at Elsa's coronation."

"Given what the Queen did, I can understand how they would be. But why make a new ice palace? Why not have the ball at the first ice palace, or at the castle?"

Anna turned to him and smiled. "You should have seen all the acceptance letters we received. They all mentioned the ice palace."

A shift in the caravan distracted Anna, as it moved to the side of the road. Ahead she saw someone approaching, a traveler coming the other way. "Oh, look! There's a Michaelmas celebrator now!" As they passed by, they waved to the herdswoman, leading her flower-decorated cows home from their summer pastures.

Before Anna could continue, the convoy came to the new road. Branching sharply to the right, practically heading back the way they had come, the new road soon had them climbing steeply into the hills above Arendelle.

Anna resumed her explanation. "Practically all the letters said things like, 'We are so excited to see the ice palace' or, 'Will there be tours of the ice palace?' Everyone wants to see it. But the palace is way up on the North Mountain. Can you imagine leading all the guests there? 'Don't worry, we only have to hike another 15 miles, uphill. Ignore the wolves, they were well fed by the last group of tourists.'" Anna gestured toward the North Mountain, momentarily forgetting she held the horse's reins.

"Whoa! Watch where you're going," warned Kristoff.

"Sorry! Now where was I. Oh, the old ice palace. When I mentioned the idea of holding the ball at the ice palace to Elsa, she didn't like the idea. She did not want to go back. Too many bad memories I guess. So I talked her into making a new one and having the ball there."

Momentarily lost in thought, Kristoff stared ahead, watching the convoy round a turn. "So the Queen is going to build a new palace. I'm glad I'll get to see it. I really didn't get a chance to explore the first one."

"Elsa is relieved we finished the road today. I think she was worried we would disappoint all the guests by holding the ball at the castle."

They rode on for a few minutes before Kristoff remarked, "I didn't know you had this many servants."

"We've been hiring. Father had reduced the staff to a minimum when I was a child, to help keep Elsa and her secret hidden. Now Elsa is rebuilding the staff. We have new servants, new Royal Guards, a new Captain of the Guard, and this new Chancellor." Anna's head dropped slightly on mentioning the Chancellor.

"You don't like him?" asked Kristoff.

"It's not that. He's a real stickler for proper protocol and etiquette. Johan can be annoying sometimes, although I know he means well."

Sven began looking tired as he pulled the heavily laden cart up the steep road.

"Don't worry old buddy, I got your favorites once we reach the top" said Kristoff, waving a carrot in the air. They passed some men attending to the remaining details of the new road, others carrying tools back down. After less than an hour, the convoy arrived at a large, flat hilltop, bordered by rising terrain on the south, and a drop-off to the north. Workers were moving a few remaining rocks from the area near the road's end, piling them against the slope to the south, to clear the area for horses and carts.

Scattered high clouds softened the early afternoon sun. The location had an excellent view, overlooking Arendelle, and the fjord. Elsa rode to the hill's edge, where the ground dropped away and formed a steep cliff. From here the view expanded to the north, with the village directly below. As she admired the landscape, her architect rode up beside her. "Are those people standing in the streets?" she asked him.

"Yes, Your Majesty. You appear to have a large audience. Half the kingdom came out to watch."

Elsa turned to him. A small man middle-aged man, he had a round, clean shaven face and short brown hair, beginning to bald. He reached into a saddlebag, fetching the plans for the new palace. She looked across the fjord again, through the clear air. This spot had been chosen for its view and accessibility. What had not occurred to her, until now, is everyone in Arendelle, or the entire fjord, would have a good view of the palace, and its construction.

Anna came to her sister's side as Elsa dismounted. The two stood for a moment, admiring the vista before them. Anna's strawberry blond hair lay in twin braids on her chest, her typical style. Her hair color contrasted with her sister's near glacial white.

Elsa turned away from the cliff's edge, and made her way to the hilltop's center, motioning for the architect to follow. A slim young woman, the Queen had recently come of age, an event marked by her disastrous coronation. She wore her hair up; twisted across the front of her head to support a tiara-style crown, then back, to where it was wrapped into a bun. Elsa usually preferred a different hairstyle, wearing her hair down with her braid forward, over her left shoulder. Chancellor Johan discouraged her from that style, telling her the importance of appearance and protocol when it came to royalty. She acquiesced to his judgment, _most_ of the time.

As she approached the spot intended for the palace's great hall, Elsa reached for the architect's plans, and unrolled them. "Your design still appears awfully blocky," she said, examining the plans.

"Ice is a weak material. We don't want the structure falling on your guests, now do we?"

Elsa straightened a bit, and gave the architect a disapproving look. _I should not be treating the Queen like a child,_ he thought, bowing his head. "Apologies, Your Majesty."

"My first ice palace had several delicate structures. They did not fall."

"Have you seen it recently? As part of my research into the new one, I journeyed to the old. Your first palace stands in ruin. The entrance stair has collapsed, as have all the spires and most of the balcony. The walls are shot through with cracks, making me suspect the entire structure could fail at any time. I believe your Power, your mere presence, had been sustaining it."

Elsa had mixed feelings upon hearing this news. On one hand, she felt sad at losing her first large creation, and the place where she had accepted her Power. On the other, the palace held several bad memories, giving her a feeling of relief knowing her first palace would soon be gone. She looked the plans again. "At the time I thought I could well spend the rest of my life in that palace. This new one will be for special events, and to show to visitors. I do not intend to live here."

"Thus, the need for more robust construction."

Elsa took one last look at the plans. "Very well." Then to Anna, "get everyone clear." She re-rolled the plans and handed them to the architect.

Anna turned and shooed everyone back to where the road ended, at the hill's eastern edge, leaving Elsa alone on the hilltop.

Remembering half the kingdom was watching, Elsa felt her body tensing and her heart racing. She had demonstrated her Power before others many times, but never on this scale. The first ice palace had been made without an audience, in solitude. She could feel her Power inside her, threatening to erupt, uncontrolled. The feeling reminded her of her coronation, when she became the Queen of Arendelle, holding the orb and scepter, hoping no one would see the frost forming on them. Now she would show why she had earned another name, the _Snow Queen_.

The plans called for a thick ice sheet to serve as a foundation. She started as she had many times before, by lifting her right leg and dropping her foot sharply, focusing her Power into the ground. A sheet of ice radiated from where her foot fell. She extended the ice sheet to cover an area as large as the great hall, the palace's central feature. She held her arms out and down at an angle, and then slowly raised her hands upward. The ice responded to the flow of Power by thickening, raising her a dozen feet. Next came the support columns. She spun in place, arms outstretched, raising them . . . and became immersed in her Power.

Audience forgotten, she swept the six columns upward with a graceful wave. With another dance-like turn and a hand gesture, she created the flying buttresses, growing outward from the columns. She spun about and the walls grew, filling the space between the main columns. A sweep of her arms formed the grand staircase, winding upward, along the walls. A glance over her shoulder and the lift of a hand caused arches, forty feet tall, to form over the entranceway. Balanced on one foot she made another turn, another gesture, forming the main doors, then the chandelier.

At her coronation, she said she did not dance. Mere hours later, she had, for the first time, let her full Power flow through her body. Then, as now, she found it impossible to do anything else but dance during this creative act.

Elsa stopped, lowered her hands, and looked about. Although the great hall appeared complete, the ice lacked the character she wanted. Closing her eyes she raised her hands above her head. She visualized her goal as Power gathered, then brought her hands sharply down, pressing a wave of light into the ice beneath her.

The wave flowed outward, through the floor and up though the walls, filling them with structure and light. Glacial blue and aurora-green hues filled the room. Behind her, Elsa heard an audible gasp from the assembled crew. Quickly she looked about. _Have I made mistake? Is something about to fall?_ Then, the crowd broke into applause.

Regaining her regal poise, Elsa turned, and bowed to them, a gentle smile on her face. All her tension had vanished, replaced by a cool calmness. Looking to the architect, she motioned for the plans. She had the secondary rooms to make, for storage, food preparation and meetings. The balcony and several other secondary structures also needed to be constructed.

Anna and Kristoff stood, hand in hand, gaping at the new structure towering above them. "I didn't know she could do it so fast." Kristoff said, softly.

"That's my sister."

"Wow, that was amazing!" They both turned to the new voice, seeing a small white figure standing near them, an animated snowman, with trigs for hair, branches for arms, and a somewhat droopy carrot for a nose.

"Olaf! I haven't seen you for a while! Your nose looks a little droopy there," said Anna, reaching for and lifting the tip of the carrot.

Olaf felt his nose. "So that's what's been smelling odd."

"You can smell your own nose?" asked Kristoff.

"Sure! Can't you smell my nose?"

"Ah, well, we can. Let me get a new one for you." Kristoff left to get a new carrot. He always had a few extra, as they were Sven's favorite snack.

"Where have you been?" Anna asked Olaf.

"Looking for summer. I cannot find it anywhere. Did Elsa take summer away?" Olaf slowly turned all the way around, as though looking for something.

"No, silly. Summer's over. It's fall now. Soon it will be winter."

Kristoff removed Olaf's old nose and pushed a fresh carrot into place. "Oh! Summer fresh!" Olaf exclaimed, fingering his new nose.

"Take good care of that one, there will not be too many more before spring." said Kristoff. Holding the old carrot, he reached behind his back, not looking. Sven quickly devoured the treat.

"Winter? So summer's gone forever?" Olaf looked quite sad.

"Don't worry. Summer will be back next year," Anna reassured him.

"Oh, that will be wonderful!" Turning to the ice place he asked, "Can I go see? Is Elsa in there?"

"Sure. Please try and stay out of the way. We have quite a bit of moving to do."

Anna began directing the unloading of the carts. "This palace needs furnishings. We are going to host a royal ball here tomorrow. We have tables, chairs, food, and dining utensils. We brought along several rugs and wall hangings too." Anna busily directed their placement about the great hall.

Half an hour later, Kristoff came to where Anna directed the placement of some rugs. "All my load is in."

"Good", she replied.

Anna looked across the hall. Several workers stood there with food, plates and other dining utensils, waiting for Elsa to finish. Blue flashes and waves of light shown through the ice as Elsa used her Power.

"I'm going to have to leave, and finish my deliveries," said Kristoff.

"How much ice do you have left this time of year?"

"My ice house is getting a little empty," responded Kristoff. "Although I have some buried deep in the straw."

"Alright. How about our deliveries? Do we have enough ice?"

Kristoff looked around the great hall. "Ah . . ."

"Not here, silly. At the castle."

"Oh. I delivered yours this morning, when I came to collect the supplies to bring here."

"Smart thinking." Anna gave Kristoff a hug. "See you tomorrow night at the ball," she said.

He turned to leave, then paused, a thought coming to mind.

"Have you heard any of the rumors? About some sort of trouble in Cliffdale, down the coast?" asked Kristoff.

Anna cast him a worried look. "Yes. King Ragnar is coming here to talk to Elsa about it."

"Usually I get a lot of orders for ice from them, but recently, I have had almost none. I wonder what could be the problem?"

* * *

><p><strong>Michaelmas is a traditional Scandinavian festival, taking place on September 29.<strong>

**Warning: This story is very hard on Ice Palaces!**

**For those considering skipping ahead: The major conflict resolutions occur in Chapters 12 and 13. Both will make much more sense if you at least read Chapters 2 and 4.**

**Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave feedback.  
><strong>


	2. Mirror, Mirror

_Three weeks prior._

With his black-taloned hand, Gnash selected a bat skin from the workbench. Slowly, he moved the skin back and forth to polish a large sheet of obsidian. The reflections cast by the rock's mirrored surface gleamed with an unearthly distortion.

"Are you done yet?"

Gnash turned to see his fellow hobgoblin at the cave entrance. His blue-black skin made him appear as little more than a shadow against the light. "Damion! Almost. Here, help me set it up."

Damion entered the cave, folding his wings carefully to avoid knocking anything over. The two hobgoblins picked the mirror off the workbench and set the frame's legs on the ground. The mirror stood taller than them, as tall as a man, and nearly half as wide.

"Let's see! Let's see! Oh, I look positively hideous!" Damion said as he gazed into the mirror. He ran a hand across his bald head, feeling well-formed horns. Reflected by the mirror, the horns appeared twisted, with large cracks and gashes. "What else can I look at?"

"Have a look around the shop," suggested Gnash as he took off his heavy leather work apron, leaving him wearing nothing but his course, black hair.

Damion adjusted his angle to examine the cave's reflection.

"Look at all the cobwebs and spiders." When he turned to look directly at the wall, Damion could see few webs, one or two at the most. "If there are any spiders there, they are too small to see."

"Did you bring a flower?" asked Gnash.

Damion reached into a bag slung over his shoulder and brought out a crocus blossom. They both looked at the reflection. "It's all thorns! And worms! The flower can hardly be seen!"

"All that is good is shrunk," started Gnash.

"All that is bad is magnified." Damion finished the mantra all their clan had recited over and over during the last few months while constructing their new device. "With this we can show everyone the way the world really is." The two started laughing, a dry, crackling, and horrid sound.

"Get the others. Let's take this someplace fun," Damion said.

Gnash walked to the cave's entrance and called the tribe. He watched as more hobgoblins left their caves and flew to the ledge outside the workroom.

"You two! Come here and help us get this outside," Damion ordered. Together, they carried the mirror onto the ledge.

Several hobgoblins gathered about, all looking and cackling away. Soon they started debating where to take their creation first.

"How about that road down there?" asked one, pointing downhill to a clear strip between the trees far below their mountainside home. Through the trees they could see a road winding its way through the forest.

"Nah, too few travelers. I want to hear screams now," replied Damion.

"Have you looked at the forest in the mirror?" asked another. "It all looks like mounds of boiled spinach!"

"Stop gawking and suggest something!" scolded Damion, slapping her away. The blow sounded like one rock hitting another.

"How about a village? We should find lots of people there!"

"Which village?"

"There's one not too far away, I don't remember its name," one said near the back. "It's the one with that new Queen, the ice princess I think she's called? You know, the one with all the ice powers?"

"Snow Queen!" another said, slapping the first on the back of the head.

"I believe that's Arendelle," said Gnash. "Showing the Snow Queen her reflection in the mirror could be fun. Maybe she would cause another disaster."

"Wait!" said Damion. "I think I got a better idea. If we want to show the mirror to beings with Power, how about this?" He leaned forward and whispered something into Gnash's ear.

"Oh, that sounds perfect! They think they're all so good, so flawless. The mirror will show them what they really are. But the only way to get the mirror to them would be to fly it. And it's heavy."

Pointing to a nearby mountain, Damion said, "We'll carry it up there first. We'll start higher, so we will not have to fly as far. And there's a road most of the way to the top."

The entire tribe, more than a hundred strong, gathered about the mirror. "You four, take the corners of the mirror, and fly it down," directed Damion. "Everyone else, get clear. I don't want anyone flying and crashing into anyone."

They tipped the mirror backwards until the frame was horizontal. The four designated hobgoblins each took a corner and extended their wings. With a few wing beats they became airborne, then easily glided to the road.

Once on the ground, several hobgoblins shouldered the mirror and started working their way uphill, along the road. At any given time, six carried the heavy mirror, like pallbearers carrying a coffin. After a few hours, they met one traveler coming the other way. The stranger's bravery held until the hobgoblins raised the mirror, showing him his reflection. Then he screamed, and ran in horror. Several minutes passed before the hobgoblins stopped laughing and resumed working their way into the mountains.

Some hours later, they had climbed to a point where the road ran along the top edge of a cliff. Far below them wound the ocean shoreline. They could see a village at the cliff's base, nestled into the corner of land between the cliff and the seashore.

Damion looked over the edge, to the village below. "I want to see what that village looks like in the mirror. Bring it here, to the edge." Several hobgoblins brought the mirror to the cliff edge while he flew a few feet away, hovering with his bat-like wings.

"Now angle it down so I can see. And be careful."

As the mirror was swung into position, one hobgoblin stepped on another's foot. "Hey! Stop that!" he said.

"Get your wing out of my face!"

Over balanced, they struggled for control.

"Wait, I'm slipping…"

"Don't do that!"

"Stop scratching!"

"Hold onto the mirror, not my nose!"

"Get your claw OUT OF THERE!"

"Pull it back! Pull it back!" screamed Damion, too late. They lost their grip, and the mirror tumbled over the side. Shocked, they watched their creation fall. After a hundred feet, the mirror struck an outcropping and shattered. The fragments continued to fall, tumbling, striking the cliff face and turning into shards and sand.

Damion landed at the cliff's edge, screaming. "You are all absolute total idiots! Do you know how hard it was to get the ingredients for that mirror? We'll never be able to make another!"

They all cowered back from Damion, except Gnash. With a single flap of his wings he hopped to the cliff edge and looked down. "You know, it's not really gone," he commented.

"What do you mean? It's shattered! Dust! Scattered!"

"Even so, that would not break the enchantment. Each little part should continue to possess power. And the shards are scattered across that entire village!"

Damion looked at the village, an evil smile twisting across his face. "This might be fun after all. Let's go look."

* * *

><p><strong>If you have read "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen, then you will recognize the hobgoblins and the mirror. My story is an adaptation of the Andersen story, with the movie "Frozen" taken as canon.<strong>

**A version of this mirror was also used in the TV show "Once upon a time" where it was called the mirror of shattered sight.**


	3. Gifts

Anna adjusted a brazier's setting on a stone block, which itself had been placed on carpeting, when Olaf wandered to her side.

"What's all this for?" asked Olaf.

"The guests will need something to keep them warm. All this will keep the heat from melting the floor."

Right after Elsa had first created Olaf, he did not understand heat, or know that snow could melt, yet had been fascinated by the idea of warmth and summer. He continued to enjoy both. To protect him from melting, Elsa had given him a small personal snowstorm that hovered a few feet above his head, following him as he waddled about.

Standing up, Anna surveyed the room, looking at the six walls. She felt good at how the preparations were proceeding, and excitement for tomorrow's ball. Starting from the entranceway, she saw the area for the musicians, the tables for the food and refreshments, an empty area, then the last two walls supporting the grand stairway, with the coat check nestled beneath. She slowly turned in place, admiring the beauty of her sister's creation. Anna noticed Elsa, standing on the landing at the top of the grand stair.

"Would everyone please stand away from the walls," Elsa requested.

"She must have finished everything on this floor," Anna said. "Olaf, why don't you go up there and look at the view? Elsa will be making the catwalk and the balconies next. I have to change."

"What are you changing into?" the little snowman asked as she ran off. "Will I get to pet the cats?"

After the servants had moved toward the center of the great hall, Elsa raised her right arm to her side, then followed with her left. Narrow stairs formed against the walls, starting at the landing, climbing an additional dozen feet. She slowly brought her hands together in front of her, causing a balcony to form along the inside wall, encircling the room.

A few minutes later Elsa returned to the ground floor. She and the architect had started checking the plans when Anna came running to them, showing off her new dress. Elsa took one look and tried to suppress a giggle. Anna wore a glacial blue, off-the shoulder dress, with powder blue sleeves. A gossamer cape decorated with snowflake patterns extended from the bodice to the floor and beyond, forming a short train. Elsa immediately recognized the dress as an ice gown; similar to the ones she made for herself.

"Where did you get that? And . . . how? When I've tried to take ice gowns off and save them, they fall apart. Aren't you freezing?"

"I had this made. It's not ice, it's cloth," answered Anna.

"Cloth? Look, an ice gown is made of ice."

Elsa dropped her hands to her side and then slowly raised them. A white wave formed at her dress's hem and quickly moved upward, transforming the cloth into a glittering blue gown made from woven ice.

"Wait!

"Your Majesty!"

Both Anna and another man, the Royal Tailor, spoke together. Then the tailor closed his eyes and sighed. _Too late, _he thought_. Another garment from Her Majesty's wardrobe destroyed._

"Ah, Elsa?" Anna said, her expression showing mild trepidation as she pointed to the Royal Tailor. He held out a blue-white item of folded fabric. "I had one made for you, too."

Elsa reached for the garment, selecting a corner and inspecting the cloth. She cocked her head to Anna, a question on her face.

"We had the idea about a month ago," Anna began. "The Royal Tailor came to me and asked if I could talk to you, to see if I could get you to stop turning your clothes into ice gowns."

"Many times I'm not wearing one. Then guests come to visit and say they want to see it."

"Right, and you destroy another dress with your magical transformation," Anna said, with a gently sarcastic tone, as she raised her hands to her sides and waved them about.

"Do you remember how much your coronation gown cost?" the tailor asked.

"And now it's gone," Anna said.

"Didn't a woodsman find the cape a few weeks ago?" Elsa asked.

"Unfortunately, the cloth had been too badly damaged by the elements and animals to be repaired," said the tailor.

"At least we recovered the clasp," Anna said. "And I kept one glove."

Elsa frowned upon the mention of the glove.

"Anyway," Anna continued, "the tailor said he could make you a cloth version of the ice gown. As long as he was making you one, I asked him to make me one too. Also, it's just more practical. Hugging you is, well, cold when you're wearing ice. I know, I know, some people are worth freezing for. And I hope this time you will dance. How will all those men hold you? Don't tell me you don't dance, I just saw you." Anna raised her hands above her head and danced a little trying to imitate Elsa making the ice palace. After a few steps and a turn, she had become entangled in the dress's train.

"Careful," Elsa warned, as she helped untangle the cape.

"Whoops! I guess I need more practice."

Elsa lifted another item, a large, silver ring sitting on top of her new dress. She found herself holding a crown. Different than the one she currently wore, this new one would completely encircle the head.

"And this?"

"I had that made too. Now you have a crown to wear when you have your hair down. I know you prefer that style."

"Mother always wore her hair up." Unconsciously, Elsa raised her hand to her head, touching the antique crown she wore. "The only crown I found in her jewelry collection has the comb angled down, and no headband. The one I wore at my coronation did not have one either."

"Right, you have to wear your hair up to support your crown. Well, not with this." Anna replied, pointing to the new silver crown.

"Chancellor Johan has been after me to always wear my hair up when in public. He says decorum is important, and it's the proper way for a monarch to present herself. I'm surprised he approved this".

Anna put her hands behind her back and smiled. "I may have forgotten to tell him about it," she said, with a small sway of her body.

A sly smile formed on Elsa's face. With her naturally slanted eyes, the expression fit her face perfectly. Conspiratorially, she mouthed _tomorrow_ to her sister.

Replacing the crown, Elsa turned and faced the back of the great hall, where the floor was empty.

"All the construction on the ground floor is done, except for one section. Would like to try it?" Elsa asked.

"Who? Me? Now? Are you sure?"

"I think you have had enough practice." Elsa moved to stand behind and to Anna's side, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder. They had discovered this trick a few weeks ago. Whenever they touched, Anna could borrow her sister's Power. Elsa had tried to see if anyone else could do the same thing, without success. So far the effect had worked with Anna alone.

"We need a dais and two thrones," instructed Elsa.

"Two? I get one?"

"Why not? You deserve it."

"All right, here we go." Anna reached forward with both hands, feeling Elsa's Power flowing through her. A low irregular ice sheet formed on the floor, from which came rose two somewhat chair-shaped lumps. Anna dropped her hands, cocked her head, and stared at the result, frustrated.

Elsa suppressed a giggle. "You're trying to use the Power as you would a tool. It doesn't work that way. Visualize what you want, then release it." With a wave, Elsa dispelled Anna's efforts.

Anna raised her hands again, and closed her eyes. A moment later she opened them and let the Power flow. Again ice rose from the floor.

"You did much better this time," Elsa said. They both stepped onto the dais for a closer look. Elsa walked to her throne and ran her hand along the edge of the backrest, feeling the delightful coolness of the ice. Anna felt hers and then pulled back, frowning at the cold hard seat.

Elsa circled around behind her throne, stepped to the front and beside the right armrest, took one step sideways, and sat. The maneuver left her long cape expertly draped across the right armrest, and trailing back behind the throne. "Something wrong?" she asked, with a smile, as she stroked the ice. She had yet to experience anything cold enough to hurt her.

"I'll freeze sitting in that."

"It's refreshing."

"You and your magical immunity to cold! It's freezing. Whose crazy idea was it to have a ball in an ice palace?"

Elsa put a finger to her lips as if deep in thought. "I think that was yours," she answered.

Anna glared at Elsa, scowling. "I'm freezing. I have a fur cloak around here somewhere."

"Go get it. I'll have your throne covered. Literally." She motioned to a servant, who brought a white blanket. By the time Anna returned, bundled up and warm, the servant had spread the blanket over Anna's throne.

"Care to go for a little ride up to the balcony?" asked Elsa.

"A ride? What do you mean?"

"You'll see."

Olaf came from the doorway leading to the back rooms. "Can I come too?" he said, excitedly.

"Oh, there you are. Where have you been?" asked Elsa.

"I've been exploring. This palace is wonderful."

"Of course you can come with us."

The architect pointed to one of the six main pillars supporting the palace. "The spiral stair should be placed near that pillar, Your Majesty," he explained.

"Lead on," replied Elsa.

The architect led them to a spot near the area reserved for the musicians. "The center will be right here," he said, indicating a spot on the floor.

Elsa positioned herself. "Everyone get close," she advised.

She waited for the others to crowd about her. "Anna, you need to pull in your train. Here, fold it over your arm, like this." Elsa demonstrated the process.

"I really do need to practice," Anna said, as she copied Elsa.

Elsa dropped her train to free her arms. With a sweep of an arm she raised a circular banister around the group. She dropped her hands to her sides, and then slowly raised them. An ice pillar, a dozen feet wide, grew from the floor, carrying herself, Anna, Olaf, and the architect upward. As the column grew, a spiral stair appeared, incised into the cylinder's side, wrapping around it. The pillar continued to grow, until the top had the same height as the balcony.

Elsa looked at the plans being held by the architect. "What does the connecting bridge look like?"

The architect opened and presented the plans. Elsa studied them for a moment, turned, and made a short bridge to connect the pillar's top to the balcony. An additional gesture added the banisters.

The architect looked at the result, then the plans. "That's it. We're done," he said, smiling at Elsa. With a nod, she dismissed him. He bowed in return, then walked to the banister, to better admire the palace.

"Shall we go to the outside balcony and see the view?" Elsa asked.

"Sure," Anna replied.

Most of the servants had finished and were already leaving, heading back to Arendelle. The two sisters worked their way around the inner balcony in the virtually empty palace. Anna glanced at Elsa and saw her smiling. "You look happy."

"I had almost forgotten how good it feels to use my Power, to really cut loose and use it without holding back. It calms me. It calms the Power."

"Maybe we can find other ways you can use your Power on a large scale."

"Such as?" asked Elsa.

"Well, you could make a Royal barge."

"A Royal barge," Elsa said dubiously.

"Or freeze the fjord again, turn the ocean into a giant skating rink."

"You're suggesting I practice with my Power by creating navigational hazards and causing natural disasters?"

"Oh, don't be like that. You can always dispel the ice. Besides, I've been thinking about how you have a need to use your Power."

Anna paused, composing her thoughts.

Elsa waited for her to continue. She had rarely seen her sister look serious.

"It's as though your Power will be expressed, either by you deciding to use it, or by it spilling out, without control. Your Power _must _be expressed. You cannot just suppress it. No more than you can suppress hunger by not eating. Or satisfy thirst by not drinking."

"That is one of the best ways I've heard it explained."

They walked down the stairs leading to the landing at the top of the grand stairway. Turning, the pair walked though a short passage through the outer wall and onto the outside balcony. Standing at the railing, they could see the evening sun dropping toward the sea. The fjord and the village had already fallen into shadow, although sunlight continued to bathe the ice palace. On the water, two ships could be seen, one anchoring and lowering her sails, the other entering the harbor.

"I see some guests have already arrived," observed Anna.

"Shall we welcome them to the First Arendelle Michaelmas Royal Ball?"

Elsa passed one hand over the other. Snow formed, building a ball between her hands. Once large enough, she threw the ball upwards, then pushed it farther into the sky with her Power. As blue-white light streamed from her hand, she could feel the ball's weight pressing onto her palm. Several hundred feet above the palace, she let the ball explode, filling the air with a starburst of white.

* * *

><p><strong>In "Frozen" Elsa and Anna, as children, were taken to the trolls on horseback. Elsa's horse created an icy path as it traveled; Elsa's Power flowed through the horse to its hooves. Here I let Elsa's Power flow through Anna, and give her control of it.<strong>


	4. Friends

_Three weeks prior._

"Kai, what are you doing out here?" asked a young girl, as she climbed through a window. She stepped onto a planter box, the breeze blowing lightly through her curly golden hair. Carefully avoiding the rose bush that had been trained to grow over the window, she made her way to a young boy.

"Hi, Gerda. I'm watching the people walk by, waiting for my father to come home." Kai sat on a bare spot among the plants, looking with his honey eyes onto the narrow street below. His walnut hair had been cut short, not quite long enough to cover his ears.

Several houses lined the brick-covered street, most built quite close together in this part of the village. Looking across the street, between the simple wooden houses, Kai could see the ocean in the distance, along with some fishing ships bringing in the day's catch. To his right, a large cliff loomed high into the sky. Intermittently, the sun would show between the clouds.

Kai's home had been built so close to Gerda's that only a few feet separated their upstairs bedroom windows. Their parents had rearranged the planter boxes that normally hung under the windows to allow the two children to visit and play. The planters had been turned so they connected one window to the other, forming a bridge between the two homes.

"Do you want to see my new red shoes?" Gerda asked.

"Sure."

The two children stood and headed to Gerda's window on their right. Before they could enter, they heard a call from Kai's window. "Does anyone want a fresh baked cookie?"

"Mom made cookies!" said Kai. They both turned and climbed into his bedroom. Like hers, a trained rose bush also surrounded his window. After entering, they ran downstairs and into the kitchen.

"There you go," Kai's mother said, handing each a cookie.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Thanks mom!"

The door opened and a middle aged man walked in.

"Father! You're home."

"Hi Kai. How was school?"

"Fine. We're learning our multiplication tables."

"How was work at the docks today dear?" Kai's mother asked her husband.

"Busy. Also, there was a lot of talk about that new queen up north in Arendelle."

"The Snow Queen?"

"Why is she called the Snow Queen?" Gerda asked.

"She's magic. She can make snow with nothing more than a wave of her hand," answered Kai's mother.

"They're saying she also caused that strange weather we had a few weeks ago," Kai's father remarked.

"Why would she do that?" asked Kai.

"Maybe she does not like people to be able to catch fish," said Kai's father with some anger.

"I heard she had accidentally lost control of her magic," his mother offered.

"Do you think if we put her in the oven she would melt?" wondered Kai.

"That's not every nice," his mother scolded. "She would not, but her clothes might. They're made from ice!"

"She wears ice?" asked Gerda.

"That's the story. She has a beautiful, blue-white dress made from snow and ice. I've heard she can use her power to change whatever she's wearing into her ice gown."

"Why doesn't she freeze?" Kai asked.

His father answered. "She cannot feel the cold. I heard she made a palace out of ice, and lives there."

"Have you two finished your cookies?" Kai's mother asked. Both children nodded.

"Here, you can both have another. But no more, I don't want to ruin your dinners."

"Thank you!" both children said.

"Kai, why don't you take Gerda back upstairs and play. I need to get dinner ready."

The two children looked at each other and ran back upstairs. As she climbed through Kai's window, Gerda bumped her hand against the side and lost her grip on her cookie. They watched the treat fall into the alley below.

"My cookie!"

"Here, you can have some of mine," Kai said as he broke his in half.

"Oh, thank you!"

After they finished their cookie halves, Gerda started talking. "If the Snow Queen cannot feel cold, I wonder what else she cannot feel."

"Maybe she cannot feel warmth, or love," wondered Kai. "And she caused that storm. My father couldn't work for three days."

"You think she cannot feel love? She sounds like an evil old witch. Maybe she has a big nose with a wart!"

They sat there for a moment, imagining what the Snow Queen must look like. Then Gerda remembered, "I wanted to show you my new shoes. I'll get them."

Kai lay on his back, looking at the clouds, watching as they drifted overhead, from behind the northern cliff. Then he saw something that looked like some sort of haze near the cliff's edge. He stared upward, trying to figure what the haze was when a sand grain fell into his right eye.

"Ow! Something fell into . . .ulp!" Another rock shard fell into his open mouth, interrupting him. He turned onto his hands and knees, trying to cough it out. Despite his efforts nothing happened, the shard had lodged inside him.

"Kai! Are you alright?" Gerda said, coming through the window from her bedroom.

"I think so, something fell into by eyes and mouth. But I think I got them out. I don't feel them anymore." He stood, looking around like he saw everything for the first time.

"Are you alright?" Gerda asked again.

Kai looked at Gerda. "Your freckles, they've grown. They cover your entire face. You look hideous."

Gerda's raised her hands to her face. "What? No they don't. Why would you say that?"

Kai ignored her, looking elsewhere. He saw one of the few, late season roses on the vines surrounding Gerda's window. He walked to the vine and pulled off a flower. "It's all full of bugs. It's ugly!" He tore the bloom apart, scattering the petals.

"Kai! Why are you doing that? You're my best friend! What's wrong with you?"

"Shut up, you ugly little goblin!" He turned, climbed through his window into his bedroom.

Gerda stood there for a few seconds, trembling, trying to understand. Then she burst into tears. She retreated to her room, fell into bed, and buried her head in a pillow.

Kai walked downstairs, into the kitchen. His mother moved about the kitchen preparing dinner. "What's that horrible smell?" he asked.

"Kai, don't say such things. It's your dinner," said his mother.

"You mean I have to eat that?"

"No, you don't," said his father. "You can go to bed without your dinner."

"Good. Better than eating poison."

"That's enough, Kai." His father stood and took Kai upstairs.

When he returned to the kitchen, his wife asked, "what was that about?"

"I have no idea. Something got into him."

* * *

><p><strong>The children Gerda and Kai are in the Andersen story "The Snow Queen". Disney re-used the names for two servants, although those names are never actually spoken in the movie, and only appear in the credits. I chose to not give the names of any servants to avoid confusion.<strong>


	5. The Royal Ball

Chancellor Johan stood with his back to an ice wall, a passageway to his left. "Your Majesty, I have been talking to the guests. There're a few things you should prepare for."

"Such as?" Elsa's voice came through the passageway, from a back room of the ice palace where she worked to finish her preparations for the ball.

Chancellor Johan continued. "Many guests have expressed quite a bit of concern about you, and your control of your Power. They are worried, even scared. Expect to have your every move watched."

"That sounds rather impolite."

"Several guests came here to examine you on behest of their government. They are essentially messengers. Do not hold them to blame for their behavior."

Elsa walked out, wearing Anna's two gifts: The tailored version of the ice gown and the silver ring crown, allowing her to wear her hair down, her single braid draped forward, over her left shoulder. "I have nothing to hide when it comes to my Power."

Johan looked alarmed at Elsa's appearance before quickly regaining his composure. "Your Majesty, we have discussed this. I . . ."

Elsa raised her hand, silencing him. "I will appear as I wish in my palace. My guests expect the Snow Queen and they shall have her. Now announce me." She had spent most of the day rehearsing her little speech.

Outside the palace, Anna stood by the entrance, welcoming guests. The sun had just touched the horizon, and a cold wind blew in from across the fjord. Anna kept warm by staying wrapped in her white, fur-lined calf-length cloak. In the gathering dark, she saw Kristoff coming up the road, riding in one of the carriages being used to transport the guests.

"You made it! I was getting worried," she said.

"I had a little trouble with the clothes you loaned me. I've never dressed formally before."

"They belonged to my father. You look wonderful! Let's go in."

Kristoff stopped to admire the blue gown under Anna's cloak. "What are you wearing? Did the Queen give you her dress?"

"Oh, no. I had this gown made. It's not ice, it's cloth, designed to look like Elsa's ice gown. I had one made for Elsa too, only she does not have to wear this fur cloak to stay warm."

Kristoff looked to the west, to where the setting sun was hidden behind structure of the palace. "Do we have a little time? We have a clear horizon tonight, we should be able to see the green flash."

"The what?"

"I'll show you. Let's walk over here, to where we can see the sun." Kristoff lead Anna around the flying buttresses supporting the palace, to the cliff edge. "As the sun sets," he explained, "the last little bit, just before it disappears, turns green. You can only see it if there are no clouds blocking the horizon."

"You're making that up."

"No, I see it quite often. It's easier to see if you're in the mountains, looking over the ocean."

They reached the cliff edge, seeing that only a little slice of the sun showed above the horizon.

"Now watch closely, for that last little speck of sun." Kristoff said, pointing with one arm, while wrapping the other about Anna. Together, they watched the sun disappear. With the sun's last light, Anna sighed with wonder.

She turned to Kristoff with a delighted smile. "It really was green. I had no idea."

"Sailors consider seeing it a sign of good luck."

"Shall we go in?"

The two walked back to the entranceway, then climbed the stairs to the great hall. As they entered, they heard the chancellor announcing Elsa.

"Queen Elsa of Arendelle!" Chancellor Johan proclaimed, carefully hiding his annoyance.

Elsa walked forward, stepped onto the dais, and gave a slight bow.

"My turn, see you in a minute. Here hold this." Anna took off the heavy cloak, handing the garment to Kristoff. She composed herself and walked to the dais as the Chancellor announced her as well. Anna stepped up and stood beside her sister, the two showing off their near identical dresses.

"You wore that?" whispered Elsa to Anna.

"Sure. Why not?"

"We should not wear the same thing. We look like a couple of book ends."

"Sorry. I thought we would look good together. I'll get my fur cloak soon, otherwise I'll freeze. At least the guests dressed warmly." The word had been sent to the guests that they should dress for the cold, even if that meant compromising a purely formal look.

Before Anna had a chance to retrieve her cloak, Duke Marcus, accompanied by his brother Anders, came forward and requested a dance. Both women accepted.

As she moved about the dance floor, Anna caught a few glimpses of Elsa and Marcus, enough to see he knew how to lead, carefully guiding her so that neither she nor anyone else stepped on her train.

Anders also knew what to do to avoid any entanglement. Looking at her dress, he asked "Princess Anna, are you like your sister in that you cannot feel cold?"

"No! I'm freezing. In fact, could you guide us over there?" she asked, tilting her head to here Kristoff stood holding Anna's fur cloak. He expertly led her to the side so she could retrieve the item. Anna continued. "The Queen does feel cold. She talks about how nice and refreshing it feels. But I have never heard her complain about being too cold."

"I'm curious, how large is the Queen's army of snowmen?"

Anna looked at Anders, surprise showing in her face. "What? She has no army. Well, the Royal Guard. She only made one snow monster, and we have not seen him for months."

"Isn't that him, right over there?"

Anna looked where her partner indicated and saw Olaf. She had not known he was in attendance. Some guests watched him talk and dance about, apparently as he related some story. "Oh, that's Olaf. He's no monster, or a soldier. He's just . . . Olaf. As children, Elsa and I used to make snowmen that looked like him. Somehow Elsa made one that's alive."

"Are you saying there's some other snow monster wandering about?"

Anna stopped, releasing her grip. "I think I do not like your tone." She turned and walked back to the dais. His eyes followed her before noticing the disapproving looks from the other guests.

Anna stepped onto the dais and sat on her throne, gathering the fur around her. A few minutes later Elsa also returned, a troubled look on her face.

"What happened?" Anna asked.

"Duke Marcus . . .it was as if he was scared to touch me. Like I would bite him or something."

"Or freeze him. I had an odd experience as well. His brother thinks you have a rampaging army of snow monsters."

The two exchanged concerned looks. "People are a little scared. We need to reassure them." Elsa said.

Another guest came forward and Johan announced him. "Prince Harold of the Southern Isles." Startled, both women rose to their feet.

"What? Who?" Anna exclaimed.

"The Southern Isles? Are you any relation to Prince Hans?" Elsa said, her voice laced with tension and anger.

"Your Majesty, I regret to say that Hans is indeed my younger brother."

Both women remembered Prince Hans distinctly. He first seduced Anna, getting her to accept a marriage proposal. A couple of days later, he tried to kill Anna, seize the throne of Arendelle, sentence Elsa to death, then kill her himself, all in the space of an hour.

"I wish to apologize for the actions of Hans. I can assure you, my kingdom does not take his actions lightly, and he will spend the rest of his days in prison. As recompense, I wish to present you with these gifts." He bowed while holding two small boxes in his extended hands, one for each sister.

Elsa took hers. Harold watched her intently as she opened the lid. The box held a necklace, a single diamond on a silver chain. She looked at Anna, seeing she held a similar piece, one with a ruby red gem on a golden chain. Elsa lifted hers from the box, admiring the diamond's cool sparkle.

"Your Majesty, if I may?" Harold asked.

Elsa handed Harold the necklace, then tilted her head and lifted her hair out of the way so he could fasten the clasp. She felt his hands brush the skin of her neck. Touching her throat, she could feel that the short chain placed the diamond high on her chest, at the collarbone. Then she watched Anna receive hers.

"Thank you. I hope we can put the past events behind us and have continued good relations with the Southern Isles," said Elsa.

Prince Harold bowed, and moved off.

"Nicely said, sis." Anna said, her voice low.

"I've been practicing."

"I'm sort of surprised you sent the Southern Isles an invitation. I don't remember seeing a reply."

"Nor I. I told Johan to invite everyone who attended my coronation. I remember excluding the Duke of Weselton and Prince Hans. I'll check later."

"His Majesty, King Ragnar of Cliffdale," announced Johan.

"Your Majesty." Elsa gave him a little bow.

"Your Majesty." Ragnar returned the bow. An older man, the King's fair skin had a few lines, giving character to his handsome face. A small amount of grey accented his dark hair and beard. His grey eyes, speckled with black, regarded Elsa with interest and kindness.

"Could you recommend a place where we can talk?" he asked.

Elsa indicated a small table with two chairs, partially hidden behind the columns supporting the grand stairway. The location had been chosen as an informal meeting place where one could have a little privacy without cutting oneself off from the party.

Once they both arrived and sat, Elsa realized she still held the jewelry box. She set the container on the table off to the side. "You have some sort of issue with your Kingdom?" she began.

"Yes," replied the King. "The problem began maybe two or three weeks ago. Something happened that took all the beauty and joy out of my main village. The people have become despondent, melancholy. Almost as if their spirit has been frozen."

"That does not sound like any effect of my Power. You say this problem started three weeks ago?"

"Yes, well after your accidental winter. Even that had only a small effect at Cliffdale."

Anna came over to Elsa with Kristoff in tow and reached for Elsa's hand. She raised her arm to the side, freely offering it to Anna, while keeping her attention focused on the King.

"Your winter brought us little more than a small snow flurry and some ice in the harbor. A couple of days later, the weather cleared and returned to normal. This new . . ." The King trailed off, his attention attracted by Anna's activities.

Elsa followed his gaze. Anna had borrowed Elsa's Power to make an odd lump of ice.

"That's a beautiful, ah, porcupine," said Kristoff.

"It's an ice swan!"

"Yes, of course. I see that this is it's . . . ."

"That's a wing."

They looked at the misshapen ice sculpture, laughing before wandered off, hand in hand.

King Ragnar turned back to Elsa. "You lead a very interesting life."

"It can be." Elsa stifled a small giggle.

The King resumed. "The timing does not work out. Your activities occurred several weeks before our problem. Unless you have been using your abilities since?"

"I use my Power several times a day. It's part of me."

"Oh?"

"Usually I use it for small things, nothing like before, when I could not control it. Maybe you do not know the entire story."

"I was unable to attend your coronation"

"I had an argument with Anna. I became upset and accidentally released my Power in front of all my guests. Until then, I had been keeping it secret. My accident scared everyone. It scared me. I ran in fear, up to the North Mountain. That's where I made the first ice palace, and at the time I expected to live the remainder of my life there, away from anyone I could hurt. I had not realized what my Power had done. The town, the fjord, everything had been frozen. My fear is what froze everything. It was overwhelming. Since then, the only time I have used my Power extensively was the making this palace, which I did yesterday."

"So you can see why I do not think you are the cause. However, the problem persists. My kingdom is dying. The people are losing their will. The fishing fleets are getting smaller as more and more sailors don't bother reporting for work. When they do set sail, they come back with meager catches. The entire village is falling apart."

Elsa became more concerned. Not only did the King's people need help, also, much of Cliffdale's fish catch came through Arendelle as part of their trade agreements with customers farther north. This curse would affect her people too.

"What do you think I can do to help?"

"Come to Cliffdale. See the situation for yourself. Maybe you or your power can be of some assistance."

Elsa considered. She could think of little else she could do, making for an easy choice. "Very well. I'll start preparations as soon as possible."

"Excellent. I'm sure you will do all you can." King Ragnar paused for a moment, then resumed. "I must say you are doing well with dispelling the rumors about you."

"Rumors? What rumors?"

"There are several. You care for no one but yourself, your skin is like ice, your power is out of control and everything you touch becomes frozen."

Elsa smiled. "That's partly what this ball is about." She searched for an item to pick up. Her eye alighting on the jewelry box, she reached for it. "As you can see I can touch anything . . . "

Elsa stopped, a sudden series of thoughts tumbling through her mind. _Prince Harold handed me this box. He watched me intently as I took it. Despite the cold, he did not wear any gloves, allowing him to feel my skin when he placed the necklace on me._

Anger filled her. She reached to her throat and yanked the chain off her neck. "This wasn't a present! It was a test!"

In her anger, Elsa forgot Ragnar, or proper etiquette. She surged from the chair and stormed into the center of the great hall, scattering the dancers. "Harold! Prince Harold! Where are you?" The color eminating from the walls changed, from blue-green light to yellow. The guests looked about nervously, then backed away from the Queen.

The musicians stopped playing as Elsa scanned the crowd. She saw him by a brazier, warming his hands. He turned toward her, a concerned look on his face. "Your Majesty?"

Elsa came closer and held out the necklace. "What was this? A present? Or a test?"

"Your Majesty, please! Let me explain!"

She threw the necklace at his feet. "You admit it? Does your entire family know nothing except lies and deception?" With growing rage, she took another step forward as snow began to swirl about her. Instinctively, she raised her right hand to waist level, an upturned palm flickering with white power.

Prince Harold raised his hands and took two steps back. Everyone else took three. Except for one.

"Your Majesty, do not blame the messenger."

Elsa stopped and shot a glance at the speaker, Chancellor Johan. He stood to the side, a few feet in front of the guests, imperturbable, a solid lighthouse in a stormy sea.

She lowered her hand, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. About her, the snow settled to the floor. When she opened her eyes, she pinned the prince in a cold, steel-grey stare. With as much control as she could muster, she ordered, "Explain yourself."

Harold lowered his hands, looked at the floor for a moment, then bravely raised his gaze to the Queen's, and addressed her. "After Hans returned in disgrace, we decided to offer you and your sister gifts as an apology. When we were informed of this ball, we saw it as the perfect opportunity to present them to you. But Hans kept making several outrageous claims about you, about how you and your power were totally out of control."

"You believed him?"

"Few did. However, despite his crimes, he continues to have supporters. The royal court decided we should try to find the truth for ourselves. I would come to deliver the presents, to observe you, and report back what I learned."

"What will you report?"

Harold stooped, recovering the necklace. "That Queen Elsa is a beautiful young woman who is fully capable of controlling her powers, even when insulted by a buffoon."

Elsa looked off to the side, thinking about how to respond. Should she accept this apology? His explanation made sense. Then again, could Harold be tying to deceive her once more? Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Johan give her the slightest of nods. Very well.

Harold still held the necklace, his arm extended. Calming herself, Elsa realized she had to demonstrate to him, to everyone, that she had accepted his apology. After regaining her regal poise, she gestured toward the floor, sending a wave of Power through the ice. The color relaxed, changing from yellow back to blues and greens. Calmly, she walked to Harold, turned and moved her hair aside. He understood and replaced the necklace. With a glance from Elsa, the musicians began to play. She turned to face him and waited, an expectant smile on her face. _Let's see how he likes being tested._

A moment of hesitation, then he bowed and offered his hand. "Would Your Majesty care for a dance?"

She placed her hand in his, and he acted without hesitation. Apparently he trusted her sufficiency to not freeze him on the spot. Soon others resumed dancing as well. The ball returned to normal.

"That was rather exciting," Prince Harold said.

"Maybe a little too exciting. I don't think I would have reacted quite so strongly if it were not for my experiences with Hans."

"I'm beginning to wonder if that was his plan all along."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm thinking that he knew his lies were in fact lies. He said them in order to sow suspicion. Then when I came here to see for myself, you would realize I had, ah, ulterior motives, and in a fit of rage lose control. Hans could then claim he was right all along. In addition, it does not help that, officially, I was not invited."

"I wondered about that."

"I took advantage of custom. It's uncommon for royalty to be turned away. I must apologize again."

Several thoughts ran through Elsa's mind as she considered what Harold said. She had never dealt with this sort of plotting before.

Harold decided to change the subject. "This palace is amazing. You can change the color of the ice?"

"If I wish. Sometimes the ice changes on its own. When I'm angry, the ice tends to gain a yellow cast."

"What is even more amazing is that you made the palace in the few weeks you had since the invitations went out."

"I hope this is not another test."

"May I plead curiosity?"

Elsa smiled, remembering that she planned this ball partly to help satisfy people's curiosity about her and her Power. "I made this great hall in less than a minute. The back rooms took a bit longer, as my architect insisted I follow his plans."

Harold stiffened, missed a dance step, looking surprised and astonished. Elsa realized that most of the guests had little idea of what she could do.

"Here, let me show you." Elsa said. They stopped dancing and she led him off to the side of the hall, between the musicians and the refreshments, at the base of the spiral stair. "Now, strike a heroic pose."

Harold did so. Elsa studied him for a few seconds, extended one hand to her side, keeping her gaze on Harold. Power flowed, ice formed. Seconds later Prince Harold saw himself rendered as an ice sculpture. Entranced by the sight, he walked to the newly formed ice. He touched the sculpture with a finger, as if to see if it was real. Behind him Elsa stifled a giggle as she watched his reaction.

Much later, Elsa collapsed into her throne, exhausted. She looked at Anna, already resting in hers. Anna had pulled her legs onto the seat of the throne, covering them and herself with her heavy cape. Only her head showed above the fur.

"Is that the last of them?" Anna asked, watching a few guests leave though the main entrance.

"I think so," replied Elsa. "All the guests are headed down the hill. Even Olaf is leaving."

They both watched the little snowman walk to the coat and hat check. "One flurry please," he said. Somewhat apprehensively, a servant used a broom to push a small cloud out to Olaf, and then watched in wonder as he walked under the cloud and adjusted its position with his twig arms. He turned and waved goodbye to the sisters.

"How does that even work?" asked Elsa, confusion showing on her face.

"If you don't know, who does?" asked Anna.

Elsa could do nothing but shrug.

"Quite a night. And we received jewelry," Anna said, smiling. "I heard you had some excitement."

Elsa related the events, including how she came close to using her Power on Harold. "It all worked out in the end. We are still on good terms with the Southern Isles."

"I can see the travel brochures now." Anna held up an arm, moving her hand left to right as if framing the words. "Come to Arendelle, see the ice palace, attend a royal ball, be terrorized by Queen Elsa."

"You're not helping."

"We could sell commemorative plaques to all the visitors. 'I survived an audience with the Snow Queen.'" Anna turned to Elsa with a bright smile.

Elsa shot her sister a dirty look. "Where were you all that time?"

"Kristoff and I were up on the balcony, watching the storm come in over the fjord. It's starting to snow out there."

"All you were doing was watching the weather?"

Anna just smiled back.

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Maybe we better head home ourselves. I had been thinking of sleeping here."

"We have beds? I don't remember beds being brought up."

In reply Elsa extended the fingers on one hand, making a little snow.

"What were you planning to do? Make a bed of ice? Sleep on a mattress of snow?"

"It wouldn't be the first time."

Anna regarded her sister for a second, then fought her way to her feet. "Come on, get up, let's get going."

The two started across the great hall. "What did King Ragnar want?" Anna asked.

Elsa told her about the problems his village was having. "I agreed to go there and see if I can do anything."

"That's a long journey. The road through the mountains winds around so much that it will take about a week to get there. Then another week to get home."

"It's only two days by sea."

Anna halted abruptly, and turned to Elsa, reaching for her arm. "By sea? Elsa, our parents . . ."

Elsa remembered. Three years ago their parents embarked on what they thought would be a two-week trip by sea. They never returned. "I know. King Ragnar offered to escort my ship on the voyage to his kingdom. A sea voyage is still safer than an overland trip."

They resumed walking to the entrance. The few remaining servants awaited them at the doors. "Will you watch over the Kingdom for me while I'm gone?"

"Of course." replied Anna. "Just make sure to come back. Now, I want to get into a nice, warm bed! Let's head down this mountain and back home."

* * *

><p><strong>Did you notice that the sisters' new jewelry is color coordinated with their hair?<strong>


	6. Cliffdale

Elsa saw Anna, standing near the bottom of the gangplank, talking to the ship's captain, as she walked onto the dock.

"Elsa, are you sure about this?" Anna asked, looking worried.

"I'm sure," Elsa replied, feeling some trepidation about taking the voyage. "I assume you have been talking to Captain Eric?"

"Yes. He assures me all will be well."

"Our voyage will be short," the Captain began. "We will never be far from shore, and there are several places we can anchor safely if we encounter foul weather. Now we best get going. King Ragnar's ship is even now leaving the harbor."

"Well, for good luck, I re-christened the ship," said Anna.

Elsa looked at the side of the ship for the new name. "The _Snowburst_?"

"That's right. Shall we give her the proper send off?" Anna smiled, extending her left hand.

Elsa smiled back, and took Anna's hand in her right. The two sisters held their free hands a few inches from each other, forming a snowball between them. Once it grew large enough, they shot the ball upward, where it exploded into a snowy shower of white.

Elsa awoke to the ship's gentle swaying. The motion had lessened since last night, so she guessed they had entered the fjord leading into Cliffdale. Sitting up, Elsa looked across the tiny room made available to her on the _Snowburst._ She had never before slept on a ship, experiencing its cramped living conditions.

Looking in the mirror, Elsa wondered, _who am I today? The Queen of Arendelle, or the Snow Queen? Well, the village needed magical help, so I'll be the Snow Queen._ Then she remembered that her gifts from Anna were left at home. The tailored version of the ice gown was not on-board. The ship's captain had recommended traveling light. She stood, concentrated, and with a gesture covered herself with a gown of blue-white woven ice, keeping the cape shorter than normal, a concession to shipboard conditions. She had to wear her hair up to support the tiara crown as Anna's other gift, the ring-style crown, was also back at the castle. Her preparations were close to complete when there was a knock on her door.

"Your Majesty? We're about to enter the harbor. We'll be docking soon."

"Very well," Elsa responded to the sailor. "I'll be ready shortly."

After coming on deck, she looked about and saw a massive cliff rising from the sea on the ship's port side, easily three times taller than the one south of Arendelle. The cliff top was partially visible through gaps in the low, grey clouds.

Captain Eric came beside Elsa. "That's the cliff for which this village is named," he said.

Elsa could see the cliff extended up the fjord, onto the land. To the cliff's south stood the village. "The cliff protects the village and its harbor from the worst of the winter storms. That protection has allowed Cliffdale to build a large fishing fleet."

"I can see all the fishing boats at anchor. The King said the men were not taking them out."

"Yes. Something's very wrong here. These waters are cursed."

Soon, they were close enough to see a pier extending into the harbor, with a vessel alongside. Elsa recognized the King's ship, already docked. Captain Eric started giving orders to his men, having them drop sails, lowering their speed as they approached.

When they were a few yards away, a single dockworker walked along the dock until he was abreast of the ship. A sailor threw him a line, which the dockworker took and wrapped around a cleat a few times in a sloppy manner. Even to Elsa his effort looked insufficient to properly secure the line.

"You there! Make that line fast!" ordered the first officer. The dockworker gave him an empty stare, then turned and walked away.

The first officer turned to the captain. "Sir?"

"Move us in and get some men on the pier to handle the lines," ordered the captain. Slowly the crew eased the ship into position. Three sailors jumped to the dock. One secured the first line, while others caught additional lines thrown to them from the ship. Together they made brought the ship to dock.

Two sailors lowered the gangplank into position so Elsa and the captain could disembark. Looking along the length of the pier she could see King Ragnar and his entourage coming her way.

"Your Majesty, welcome to Cliffdale," he said.

"Your Majesty, I'm glad to be here."

The captain did not speak quite so cordially. "What's going on with the dockworkers?"

"I must apologize. It appears that whatever is effecting my village has gotten worse in my absence."

"My Queen, I think I had best stay with my ship," Captain Eric said. He motioned to four sailors, having them come forward. "Will these men be sufficient for you?"

Elsa looked at her seamen and nodded.

The small group walked to the end of the pier and onto the main road into the village. As they walked along the road, they saw some villagers moving about, slowly going about their tasks. Little conversation passed between them, and no laughter. Elsa looked around, seeing dreary brown buildings. No color greeted the eye. The snow from the storm a few days ago had been pushed to the roadsides, into piles of brownish grey sludge.

Elsa stopped, feeling something pressing on her spirit, draining away joy and beauty.

"Queen Elsa, before you said that your fear froze the land. What do you feel here?"

"Not fear, at least not much. I feel something else."

"Different people describe the effects caused by the curse in different ways. Some say they feel hopeless, or despondent. Some lose the will do anything. Others see ugliness wherever they look. If fear froze the world, what thawed it out?"

"Love. The love I and my sister share, the love for my people and my land."

"To me this feels like the spirit of my people has been frozen. Do you think you can help?"

Elsa pondered the situation for a few seconds. "I see nothing that makes your people unworthy of love."

She closed her eyes, remembering back to the day she ended her winter, bringing back summer, and to the love she felt for her sister, who had moments earlier shown the willingness to sacrifice her life to save Elsa's.

Power began to gather around her. Elsa opened her eyes and raised her arms, spreading the Power throughout the village.

The air warmed. The low grey clouds began to clear, revealing a deep blue sky scattered with puffy white cumulus. A soft breeze blew across their faces. The flow of Power swept away the sludgy snow. A few scattered flowers poked their heads though cracks and showed around buildings.

Elsa looked about at the transformed village. Dry, dusty buildings greeted her eye. If anything the village looked drearier than before. What flowers had bloomed had already started to wilt in the heat. Then she saw an old man coming toward where she and the others stood.

"What foolishness is all this?" he asked, as he scanned Elsa from head to foot. "Are you that Snow Queen? What have you done? It's hot! I'm not dressed for hot. I'll die of heat stoke because of you! Go home and leave us alone." He walked on by, regarding the group with an expression of hatred. One of the King's men started after the old man, to apprehend him for being disrespectful to the King.

"Let him go," Ragnar said. "He's not responsible."

King Ragnar and Elsa looked at each other, sharing a common thought. She had failed. She felt more hopelessness and despair descending upon her, wondering how much resulted from the curse, and how much was from her failure to help.

"That was quite an impressive display," he said, diplomatically.

"But ineffective," she replied, while continuing her survey of the streets, trying to find any benefit from her effort.

"Is there anything else you can do? Any other abilities?"

Elsa looked at the King, frustration showing through her poise. She opened her mouth to answer when one of her seamen saw something.

"Your Majesty? Smoke!" He exclaimed, pointing uphill, into the village.

"We better go see." The King led the way with his men, Elsa, then her men following, uphill on the main road, and then left along another. On this street, the homes had been built quite close to each other with barely any room between them. Many had planters mounted below their second story windows. On the right side of the road, smoke billowed from one home.

As she came to the burning home Elsa could see smoke coming from a second story window on the side of the house. Oddly, the planter there had been turned so that it formed a bridge to a window on the neighboring house. A young boy came running from the front door of the burning house. He ran down the steps and into the street, then turned toward it, backing away slowly.

"Burn you ugly old house!" he yelled. "Burn to the ground! And take everything else with you!"

Several men ran into the house carrying buckets. Elsa ran in after them. The air was not too bad. Most of the smoke was confined to the ceiling or flowing up the stairway. Elsa had to dodge the two men returning with empty buckets before moving farther into the house. She continued until she found some drapes on fire. Elsa quickly smothered the flames in a spray of snow. She looked about the area, but could find nothing else burning.

On returning outside, Elsa saw two of the King's men holding onto the boy. He struggled weakly, trying to escape their grip. Two others, a man and woman she had not seen before, stood in front of him. "Kai! Why did you do it?" she heard the woman say.

Elsa walked over. "What happened?"

"It's our son . . . . Why, you're the Snow Queen! We're so sorry to trouble you. Our son has been very bad. This is the second time he has set fire to our house."

"The second time?" asked King Ragnar.

"Yes, Your Majesty. He's been very disobedient recently. We just do not know what to do with him."

"When did this start?" asked the King.

"A little over three weeks ago," answered Kai's father.

Elsa and Ragnar exchanged a quick glance. "It's the curse," he said.

"You're beautiful," Elsa heard from the boy. She looked at him, seeing he had stopped struggling and stared up at her, almost in a trance.

"Why thank you," she said, smiling while leaning forward a bit.

"I have never seen such darkness, such evil. I've never known it could be so lovely."

Elsa's smile vanished and her eyes grew wide. She straightened, taking a small step backwards.

"Kai, don't say such things," scolded his mother.

"Why not? It's true, you old hag."

"Kai, stop that right now!" His father grabbed Kai's arm, drawing him off to the side.

King Ragnar came close the Elsa. "This child seems to be more strongly affected than anyone else in the village."

Kai started screaming, distracting Elsa. "Let me go! I don't want you, I want the Snow Queen!"

Elsa turned back to the King. "There is something else I can do. I know some friends who might be able to help that child."

"Who? Can you bring them here?"

"No, they're trolls, and will not travel. I'd have to take Kai with me."

Kai's mother had overheard them. "Take my son with you? But you might be able to help? Please, anything. We want our son, our real son, back."

"If you can cure the child, maybe you will learn how to save my village. Will you try?" asked Ragnar.

"I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything. If you're willing to let me take Kai with me, yes, I'll try," replied Elsa.

King Ragnar turned to Kai's parents, seeing if they would approve. Both gave a nod, and Kai's father released his hold on his son.

Now free, Kai ran forward and threw his arms around Elsa, then backed off, looking into her face in wonder.

Kai's father turned to his wife. "Shouldn't one of us go with him?"

"I don't know. I don't want you to lose your job, and I have to take care of mother."

Elsa overheard them. "I promise he will be well taken care of."

"Well. If you're sure," Kai's mother replied. Elsa saw relief in both parent's faces. She guessed Kai had become such a trial that having someone else take care of him, even for a short time, would be welcome. She also wondered how much whatever was affecting the village had affected their decision.

"Kai, would you like to come with me?" Elsa asked, as she offered Kai her hand.

"I'll do anything for you," he replied as he reached for her, taking her hand.

"If whatever is going on here is getting worse, I'd better leave immediately," Elsa said to the King.

"Very well," the King replied. "My men will escort you back to your ship. I hope that in the future you can visit under better circumstances, and stay to see my kingdom. Good luck and fair winds."

Gerda crawled from under her bed. The screaming had stopped, and the smell of smoke had dissipated for the most part. Cautiously, she walked to the window and looked about. She saw a little smoke coming from Kai's window, far less than earlier. Looking to the street, she saw several people walking away. One woman had white hair and wore a glacial blue dress, her cape adorned with snowflake patterns. She walked along the street, hand in hand with Kai. She must be the Snow Queen! The Snow Queen was taking Kai away!

Gerda ran downstairs to her parents. "Mommy! Daddy! Kai is being kidnapped by the Snow Queen!"

"Don't be silly. The Snow Queen doesn't kidnap people. She makes snow. And she doesn't live here, she lives up north in her ice palace," replied her mother.

"But I saw her. She was right outside. You have to come and see, to save Kai. He's my best friend, and you have to save him!"

Her father started to stand. His will to move appeared to leave him before he got very far. "Do you want to go look?" he asked his wife, as he slumped back into his chair.

"Not really. Gerda, stop saying such things. Go to your room."

Gerda looked at her parents, then turned, and ran back upstairs. She threw herself on her bed and began to cry. A few minutes later she realized what she had to do. She had to rescue Kai herself. She put on some warm clothes and her new red shoes. Sneaking past her parents, she slipped outside, onto the street.

Gerda looked toward the direction the Snow Queen had gone, seeing no one. _Which way did she go?_ Gerda ran to the main road. Looking both ways, she could not find the Snow Queen. One direction led downhill to the docks, the other uphill. Which way? _She's the Snow Queen, not the Sea Queen_ she thought. Gerda turned inland and started heading up the road.

* * *

><p><strong>Cliffdale is the name I am least happy with.<strong>


	7. Homecoming

Once Captain Eric finished getting the ship underway, Elsa went to him. "Can you find a room for Kai here?"

"I think we have quarters we can assign to him." He called upon a seaman.

"Once you feel up to it, you can come get some food," Elsa said to Kai. "For now, get settled into your room."

The seaman led Kai below. Elsa stayed on deck, watching Cliffdale recede behind them. After the ship had cleared the harbor, she and the Captain went below to the ship's mess for some lunch.

"I saw the weather change. Did you use your Power?" Eric asked, after sitting at the table.

"Yes, but you most likely noticed it did not effect the curse."

"A shame. Still, I'm glad we are under way. This area, these waters, just feel _wrong_. What of the boy?"

"Kai? He appears quite strongly affected. I'll see if I can get him cured." Suddenly, she felt the ship lurch, shuddering to starboard.

"If you will excuse me," said Captain Eric, as he rose and hurried on deck. Elsa quickly followed him.

The first officer stood at the wheel. "Captain, the ship is not responding to the helm. I've sent two men to the tiller room to handle it directly, but there's some kind of problem there."

Elsa moved aside as the captain returned below deck, then followed. He led the way aft. As they approached the tiller room, Elsa could hear what sounded like a fight. On entering the room she saw Eric, two seamen, and Kai.

"Get back!" Kia yelled. He had gotten a knife from somewhere and swung the weapon about wildly. The two seamen were trying to deal with him, one trying to take his knife away, and the other trying to get by him to the tiller, which was hard over, banging against its stops.

"Kai, what are you doing?" asked Elsa.

Kai saw Elsa and stopped, lowering the knife. "I did it for you, Snow Queen. This ship is a rotting hulk. It deserves to crash."

Elsa stepped forward. "Give me the knife." Kai dropped his head, lowered his eyes and handed her the weapon. The two seamen ran to the tiller. They brought the heavy lever to center. "We have control," one called to the bridge.

"Half rudder port," came the call from above. The seamen swung the tiller to the right side of the room.

The Captain picked up a line from the deck. "It's been cut."

"What's that do?" asked Elsa.

"It's the line that runs from the ship's wheel to the tiller. It allows us to guide the ship from the bridge. This boy must have cut it."

"It's just a smelly old rope." Kai said, as he continued to look at his feet.

"Your Majesty, you need to control this child. Sabotage such as this puts us all at risk."

"I'll talk to him," she said, handing the knife to Eric.

Elsa took Kai into her room and sat him on the bed, while she took the room's only chair. "Kai, I want you to promise me you will not try and hurt the ship or anything else."

"Why not? This ship is ugly."

"No, it's not. It's a fine ship, and it's my ship. I want to keep it. Besides, we need it to get home."

Kai gazed at Elsa, looking through her, seeing nothing.

"Now, will you promise me you will be good?" Elsa asked.

Kai gave a halfhearted nod.

"Thank you. Now let's see about getting you some food."

Later that night, Elsa awoke to the sound of the ship's bell. She heard men running about shouting. Fearing the worst, she arose and climbed to the deck. The smell of smoke greeted her when she arrived. Apparently, there had been a fire. Although she could not see any flames, she could see that most of the ship's sails had been damaged. In an all too familiar scene, two seamen were restraining Kai.

Exasperated, Elsa walked to him. "Kai, why? What did you do now?"

"I threw at lantern at the sails so they would all burn. With them destroyed, the ship will drift into the rocks. You can save us and we can watch everyone else die as the ship sinks. Then we can be together, forever."

"Kai! You promised me you would behave."

"I know what you meant. Nothing good can come from this horrid ship. It needs to be destroyed. I know you can see that."

"Your Majesty, this has gone far enough," said Captain Eric. "I must place Kai in the brig for the remainder of the voyage."

"You cannot lock a child up in the brig!"

"Most of our sails are useless. We can repair some and replace others with spares. Even so, we will be a day late getting to port. With luck, the damage to the rigging is not too great or we might not make it at all. I cannot allow him to endanger my ship, my crew, or you any longer."

"Very well. You will lock him in my room. Move everything out except the beds, and lock the door."

"You want to have him stay in your room? Where will you stay?"

A puzzled expression crossed her face. "In my room."

"You want me to lock you up? Keep the Queen of Arendelle as a prisoner on my ship along with this child?"

"Yes. Those are my orders."

The _Snowburst_ took two extra days to reach port. At one point, the crew had to anchor the ship in a cove to make repairs. Elsa stayed in her room with Kai the entire time. She saw that he was calmer in her presence, although she found his reasons terrifying. Was she really filled with the darkness and evil he saw in her? Several times she noticed frost crawling up the walls and had to calm herself, filling her mind with thoughts of home, and her love for Anna, to control her Power.

Using the Power, as always, helped her maintain control. To keep Kai occupied, she made toys for him out of ice. Kai preferred puzzles, blocks of ice he could put together to make various shapes or spell out words. She did what she could to comfort him, hugging him, and stroking his hair.

On the morning of the fourth day, she felt the ship come to dock.

A seaman knocked on her door. "Your Majesty? You can disembark whenever you wish. The captain has called the Royal Guard." He unlocked the door.

Elsa and Kai left the room and went on deck. As she walked to the gangplank, Elsa noticed a couple of sailors sitting on supply crates, their faces showing looks of . . . exhaustion? _It must have been difficult sailing the ship home with all the damage_, she thought.

On the dock, she saw Anna accompanying the three Royal Guardsmen. Anna appeared quite concerned. As soon as Elsa stepped onto the dock, Anna ran to her and gave her a hug.

"Elsa, you're late, I was so worried. I kept thinking of mother and father. And the ship, it looks like you had a fire. What happened?" Anna asked.

Elsa passed on the events of the last few days. "And now we need to see if we can cure Kai," she finished.

"It's easy to guess why you brought him here."

"Yes, we need to visit the trolls."

Elsa had seen the trolls only once, when she was eight years old. She had accidently injured Anna with her Power, and their parents took them both to see Pabby, the elder troll, to ask him to cure Anna. Pabby had done so, and also recommended removing the younger sister's memory of the injury, and of Elsa's Power. Anna had seen them again, after Elsa had injured her the second time, a couple of months ago, the day after her coronation. Anna remembered the way to their home in the Valley of the Living Rocks.

"How's the kingdom doing? Did you have any problems while I was gone?" Elsa asked.

"Not really. Some of the guests took their time leaving. They were still here when you left, asking questions about you. Despite our efforts, they continue to worry about what you could do with your Power."

Elsa paused to think. "We will have to keep working on that. Plan some diplomatic missions. But, not now. We have other problems, and soon it will be winter. We cannot go visiting everyone until spring."

"Also, Johan needs to see you about something. He wouldn't tell me what it was about. He said he has a message for the Queen only."

Elsa looked concerned. "I'll talk to him when we get back. And I'll have a little discussion with him about protocol. When I leave you in charge, I expect you to be treated as I would be."

When they reached the castle, Elsa called for their horses. She had Kai ride with her, and they set off, Anna leading the way. After a relatively short trip, a couple hours into the mountains, they entered a lush valley.

The valley contained a few steam vents and hot springs. The warmth made the vegetation lush. Moss and ferns abounded on all sides. Anna guided them to a small glade containing several round rocks. They dismounted from their horses, Kai clinging to Elsa's side.

"Pabbie? Are you here?" Anna called, looking about. The rocks began to tremble, then rolled toward them. As they came closer, each unrolled, and became a troll. The color and texture of granite, they ranged in size from several inches tall to a couple of feet, each almost as wide as tall. Their clothing appeared to be made of little more than plants and moss. Their hair had a strong resemblance to grass. Each wore a necklace of glowing stones. Their features were smooth and rounded, pleasing to the eye.

"Anna! Welcome back!" exclaimed a female troll. "How are you and Kristoff doing? Married yet?"

Anna rolled her eyes at her. "No, and please, let's not start that again. We have a problem. I really need to see Pabbie."

One of the larger rocks rolled to them, and became an elder looking troll. "Princess Anna, Queen Elsa, welcome. I hope you are well," he said, bowing. Speaking to Elsa, he asked, "How are you living with your abilities?"

"We're doing well, Pabbie. I'm in control of my Power for the most part. I'm still learning about it," replied Elsa.

"As you will for the remainder of your life. What brings you to me?"

"I have just returned from Cliffdale. King Ragnar asked me to visit there to help remove a curse that has befallen his village."

"I know of the trouble at Cliffdale. There is something very bad happening there." Pabbie lowered his head and shook it slowly.

"Yes. It felt as if the spirit of the people there had become frozen. I tried using my Power to help them, to thaw their spirit, and failed. Whatever's affecting the village, it's not something I can resolve. The effect is worst in this child. I am hoping you can help him."

Pabbie walked to Kai, who quickly ducked behind Elsa, hiding. "It's alright. He will not hurt you," Elsa said in a reassuring voice.

Kai edged out from behind Elsa. Pabbie placed a hand near his head. Soft light flowed between his hand and Kai. Then, as if stung, Pabbie pulled back.

"What have you brought into our valley?" he said angrily. "He is not welcome here."

"He's a sick child! He needs help," exclaimed Elsa.

"He is not so much sick, as poisoned. Poisoned by a darkness and evil I have never seen."

"Can you not help him? Remove the poison?" asked Anna.

"No. He is beyond my ability to cure. The nature of his affliction, it is new to me."

"Surely there must be something. I cannot leave him this way. And Cliffdale, it's dying." said Elsa.

Pabbie lowered his head and thought for a moment. "There is one possibility, someone who may know what to do. A woman who lives to the east, named, Finnoa."

"She can help Kai? I can take him to her immediately."

"No, she cannot help directly as she has no such power. Knowledge is her possession. She will know what to do."

Elsa looked at Pabbie, then Kai, seeing how nervous they both appeared, then looked to Anna. "Get the details, find out where we can find Finnoa," she requested.

Elsa led Kai away, more to ease the trolls than anything. Anna continued her conversation with Pabbie for a few more minutes.

"Are we going back to my home now?" Kai asked.

"Is that what you want?" asked Elsa.

"Yes. I still need to burn it to the ground. You saw it. It's a horrible, ugly place. It needs to be destroyed."

"No, we will not go back quite yet. I'll show you my castle first. Would you like to see it?"

"I saw it. It's almost as bad as Cliffdale. But if you live there you already know that. Will you use your power to destroy it?"

"No! It's lovely, and it's my home!"

Kai fell silent, regarding Elsa with cold, dead eyes before looking away.

"Alright," said Anna having returned from her conversation. "Pabbie told me how to find this Finnoa. The trip there and back will take about a week. We need to go through the mountains, all the way onto the eastern plains."

Elsa could see that Anna looked disappointed. "Is something wrong?"

"I asked Pabbie about my memories. You know, the one's he took away after the accident when we were kids. He said he couldn't restore them. They're not simply repressed, they're gone, forever."

"I'm sorry. Father thought it was for the best." Elsa gave Anna a hug. "At least you know what happened."

"I know what you remember, what you've told me. I wanted my own memories. Part of me is gone, and I will never get it back," Anna said regretfully.

They mounted their horses and began the ride home under the noontime sun.

"Do you think you can handle this trip without me?" Elsa asked. "I need to stay here with Kai. He acts somewhat calmer around me, and I don't want to leave him for a week."

Jokingly, Anna said, "You could toss him into the dungeon."

"I cannot imprison a child in the Royal dungeon!"

"Wait, are you saying we actually have a Royal dungeon?" Anna eyes glazed over, an odd smile crossing her face.

"Prince Hans had me chained up there once, remember?"

"Oh, that place. I never thought of that room as being a dungeon."

Right after Elsa had lost the fight at her ice palace, she had been returned to Arendelle, unconscious, and placed in chains. She escaped when her fear became so great, the cold so intense, causing her shackles to shatter, along with her cell walls. The shackles used on her were odd, consisting of metal mittens completely enclosing her hands. They were designed to suppress her Power. She wondered how her captors made them so quickly. Afterwards, she found they had been made years earlier under orders from her father. He must have had worried that, one day, his talented daughter would completely lose control, and prepared for the worst.

"Maybe we should just drop this entire thing and take him home", muttered Anna.

"What?" Exclaimed Elsa. "Anna, that's not like you!"

Anna looked up to Elsa in surprise, then confusion. "What came over me? Suddenly, everything felt hopeless."

"You were seeing things as they really are", said Kai.

The two sisters looked at Kai, then at each other. Elsa moved close to Anna and talked in low tones. "Maybe whatever is effecting him is getting to you."

"You mean is spreads? From Kai? What about you?" Anna whispered.

"I think so. Different people react differently. I saw that in Cliffdale, and, I think, on the ship. Some seamen looked tired, but maybe it was this curse. You must be especially sensitive. I think I must be more resistant."

"What do we do?"

"I cannot take him to the castle, or anywhere in the village. I have the responsibility to protect my subjects."

"Where else is there?" asked Anna.

Elsa looked skyward for a few moments, lost in thought. "The ice palace. I can modify it by walling off the great hall. Maybe I can get Olaf to keep him company. It's close enough to Arendelle, I can visit Kai every day."

The day had turned cloudy as they approached the ice palace. Elsa made a snowball, which she lofted upward, creating an explosion of white flakes overhead. "I hope that works. I'm trying to summon Marshmallow. I want him to stand guard."

"Why not use the Royal Guard?" asked Anna.

"I'll post them too. Right now I need a guard, and Marshmallow may be closer."

The hill on which the ice palace had been built had acquired the name, Overlook. When they reached the top of the road they saw Marshmallow had already arrived. Twenty-five feet tall, his body consisted mostly of snow, with ice covering various areas like armor. His snowy hands supported icy claws. Anna examined the snow monster, remembering his cold grip and his total lack of a sense of humor when she threw a snowball at him. Now, she saw something odd.

"Elsa? Look at his head."

"So that's where it went. Alright, hand it over," commanded Elsa.

"Do I have to? It's pretty," he said in a deep gravely voice, then reached to the top of his head and removed a small golden object. He handed the golden tiara-style crown to Elsa, one done in a more modern style than the crown she currently wore. The gold crown was the one she had worn at her coronation, and later threw away right after building her first ice palace. Days later, she had sent some men to search for the crown. After they had returned empty handed, she had to look through her mother's old jewelry collection for a replacement.

Elsa led the way, climbing the entry stairs and walking into the palace. There she raised several walls of ice, blocking the entrances to the rear rooms and the grand stairway. Kai watched with an empty expression, arms wrapped about him against the cold.

"Can Kai really stay here?" asked Anna. "It's freezing."

"I've been thinking," Elsa answered. "I believe I can protect him. I'm going to try it. Kai, come here."

Kai obeyed, and Elsa stooped and kissed him once on the cheek, then once on the forehead. Kai dropped his arms, as though he could no longer feel the chill air.

"That should numb him to the cold, and numb his memory of home. It will ease his stay." Elsa said, with some apprehension.

"How did you . . . how do you know that will work? And is safe?"

"I trusted the Power. I visualized what I wanted, and released it. Anna, I'm not sure what I did is safe."

"Maybe you should kiss him a third time, numb his anger at everything."

"When the Power flowed into him, I could feel what happened. What I did is similar to what I accidently did to you, the two times I stuck you with my Power. When I kissed him, I felt the Power flow to his head, his heart, and freeze something there. If I try to do any more, I could well kill him. Anna, this is serious. I have numbed Kai's memories of his friends and family, and his home. And now I'm going to lock him in a prison of ice. I can only hope I did not take away his memories permanently, like Pabbie did to you."

"Will it take an act of true love to remove the ice? Like it did for me?"

"I hope not. I think my Power can remove it, when the time comes."

Anna looked around the ice palace's great hall. "Surely we can do something more to help. This may be a better place to stay than a dungeon, but still . . . "

"I'm hoping . . . ah, here he comes."

Olaf walked to the sisters. "Hi Elsa, hi Anna!" He raised one twig arm to his face and loudly whispered, "Marshmallow is at the entrance. Be careful."

"I know. I asked him to guard Kai. Don't worry, I'll tell him to not bother you."

"Oh, all right. And this is Kai? Hi, I'm Olaf." He extended a twig hand to Kai, who stared back.

"Why is there a little dirt man here?" he asked, looking at Elsa.

"Kai, I would like you to meet Olaf. He's here to be your friend. He's my friend too, so please be nice to him."

Kai looked at Olaf, then turned and slowly walked away. Olaf watched him, concern showing on his normally cheerful face. Elsa took the chance to make some oddly shaped blocks of ice.

"Olaf, Kai likes playing with puzzles. These are puzzle blocks. He is going through a difficult time. Do you think you can stay here with him and help him through it?"

"Sure, I'll do whatever I can." Olaf turned and tottered after Kai.

Elsa and Anna walked outside, back into the darkening afternoon. The clouds had lowered and thickened. Elsa turned, and with a wave of her hand, closed the great doors. "I think maybe one guard is not enough." Another gesture created a cloud of snow. From within, a second snow monster formed.

Marshmallow looked at the newcomer, then waved. "Marshmallow," he said.

"Snowflake," responded the second one.

"I need you to guard Kai. Keep him safe. I'll visit him from time to time and I'll send servants here with food for him. And don't bother Olaf." The two snow monsters nodded, and positioned themselves on either side of the entrance.

"I wonder where these names come from," commented Anna.

Elsa looked at her, cocked an eyebrow, frowned, and shrugged her shoulders.

They rode in silence on their way back to the castle. Anna could see how upset her sister had become by what she had done. On reaching home, Elsa stalked to her throne and sat, brooding.

"Anna, what have I done? What am I? A monster that locks away a child in a prison of ice?" She stood and began pacing. The room grew colder. Ice and frost splashed outward from where her feet struck the floor.

"Elsa, it's not like you have much choice. He's sick. Magically sick."

"Oh, Anna, does that make it right?" Some servants became nervous as they saw frost creeping up the walls.

"Uh, Elsa…"

"Perhaps I _am_ a monster. I've always been a monster." She paced back and forth, her gestures showing her frustration.

"Elsa!"

"What!?"

"Maybe you want to do something about all that?" Anna pointed about the room, showing Elsa the gathering ice. Elsa stopped, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then, with a wave of her hands, dispelled the frost. Opening her eyes, she gave Anna a haunted look. Although she appeared calmer, her eyes showed pain and anguish.

Anna put her hands on her sister's shoulders. "You're no monster. We'll do everything we can to cure Kai, to save Cliffdale. You know that."

"You're right," she replied with a sigh and a slight smile. "You better get ready for your trip. I have to . . . . " She looked at her hands, then turned, and walked out of throne room.

Over the months since she had accepted her Power, Elsa had learned ways to stay in control. Her loss of control in the throne room left her feeling embarrassed and upset with herself. At least she knew what to do next. As she walked along the causeway connecting the castle to Arendelle, she remembered the interview with Captain Lars which helped clarify the situation.

He had come to Elsa a couple of weeks after her coronation, having responded to an employment call for a new Captain of the Royal Guard. Clean-shaven, except for a small mustache, he had looked every inch a military man, right down to his close-cropped brown hair.

"Your Majesty, if you hire me, my duties will include protecting you and your kingdom, and to insure that you can protect yourself," he said, holding her gaze with his brown-green eyes.

"You doubt my Power?" she asked, displaying some snow above an open palm.

"Your Power is not in question. Yet despite your Power, two men armed with nothing more than crossbows defeated you, and almost killed you. That should never have happened."

His words came as a surprise. She thought she had done rather well during the battle at her first ice palace. "You think I should have been more violent? Tried harder to kill them all?"

"You abandoned a position of strength and ran in panic. You could have blocked the entranceway to your castle with a wall of ice and avoided fighting altogether. Your Majesty, being a warrior is not about fierceness, or killing. It is about strategy, tactics, skill, practice, and remaining in control, even in adverse conditions".

_Remaining in control even in adverse conditions._ Those words struck home. On hearing them she realized he offered what she was looking for.

"You have trained others with magic powers?" She asked.

"No, you will be the first. But I have trained some very talented men. I expect this will not be too different. In any case, this will be a learning experience for the both of us."

Soon after, she hired him and agreed to start 'training sessions' with Lars and his men.

Her first session came only a few days later. In that session, he had shown her nothing more than men practicing archery.

"Notice where everyone else is standing?" he asked.

"They are all behind the archer."

"Correct. I advise you to do the same when you use your Power, especially any time you feel less than in full control. Make sure no one is standing in front of you."

The following sessions had become more involved. At least they had given her more opportunities to use her Power, something that had always helped calm her

The clouds became darker as she walked through the village. Then, they started to produce some rain. Unconsciously, she reached for her cloak and folded a layer of cloth over her head. She was about halfway to her destination when she heard her name called.

"Queen Elsa?" she heard from a nearby child. "Would you like to help us make a snowman?"

She stopped and smiled to a small group of children. "I'm don't have time right now, but, tell you what. I'll make you some snow."

"Yay! Snow!"

Elsa looked about for an open area. Finding one, she walked to it, and looked about. Seeing the children were safely behind her, Elsa extended her right hand and made a snow pile. "There you go."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" they all said.

Elsa waved goodbye, and proceeded on. Her destination, the practice field, had been set up on the west end of the village, on a narrow strip of land between the ocean and the cliff. Archery targets had been placed at the base of the cliff, which served as a backstop for any errant arrows.

Today, Elsa saw a few men practicing hand-to-hand combat on the field. As she approached, Captain Lars saw her and called for his men to clear the area. They stopped and moved off. As Lars moved to Elsa's side, he saw the expression on her face and the tense way she walked. He could tell something had upset the Queen

"Maybe just a little target practice," Elsa said to herself. Such practice was one of Captain Lars' basic exercises. Elsa reached forward, and, using both hands, formed a bolt of ice in mid-air. She quickly moved her left hand under the bolt, a blue glow of Power supporting the weight. From her right hand, another blue glow shot out, launching the bolt at a target. She missed, badly, to the right. She tried again, missing to the left. A third attempt sent an ice bolt high into the cliff side.

"You're letting your anger control your Power. Look through the anger and focus on the target." Lars instructed.

The next bolt actually hit the target, although way off to one side. The next plowed into the ground not halfway there. Frustrated, Elsa extended both arms, and created a gigantic snowy, icy mass on the cliff, directly behind and above the target. An avalanche came crashing down, obliterating the target and covering half the field.

"That works too, if your goal is total destruction."

Elsa turned to Captain Lars, a stern look on her face. He stood his ground. He knew how to train his men. Without taking her eyes off his, Elsa lifted her right leg and struck the ground with her foot.

A puzzled look crossed Lars' face. _Am I being reprimanded? _he wondered.

Elsa reached forward and gave the Captain a small push to his chest. Unprepared for the newly formed ice beneath his feet, he slipped, and fell on his rear.

The next day, Anna found her sister sitting at the table in the side room off the throne room, reading a letter. "You're looking fancy today. Is that the replacement for your coronation gown?" Elsa had dressed formally, a deep blue dress over a black, long-sleeved shirt. Both the dress and the purple cape were decorated with flowing rosemaling patterns, the cape being further decorated with Arendelle's symbol, the Crocus flower. She had put her hair up to support her coronation crown.

"Yes," answered Elsa. "You should have seen the expression on the tailor's face when he presented it to me. I had to promise him that I would not destroy it before I could pry it out of his hands."

"He must have put quite a bit of work into it."

Elsa picked up the edge of the cape. "This is a work of art. I can see why he's so protective."

"That crown is beautiful too. Too bad you cannot wear it with your other hair style."

"I have been thinking of having it modified. Having her hair up was always mother's style, so none of her crowns were ever made for any other style. It was my style too, until that night on the North Mountain. The same tradition was followed for this crown. Maybe it's time for a change."

"So, is something special happening today?"

Elsa closed her eyes, and her shoulders dropped a small amount. "The Earl of Westshire has requested an audience."

"I didn't know he had retuned. He must have a fast ship."

"He never left. Apparently, he has been waiting since the Michaelmas ball. His request is what Johan wanted to talk to me about. The Earl did not want to talk to you, or anyone, but me. Most likely because of this." Elsa created a few snowflakes above her open palm.

"He wants to see the Snow Queen."

"I wish I had known. If I had, I could have handled this before I left for Cliffdale. He's appears apprehensive; it took awhile before he was willing to ask to see me. Anna, I think this is the same issue. He's scared. Of me, and my Power."

"What are you going to tell him?" asked Anna.

"First, I want to show him I'm not only the Snow Queen. I'm also the Queen of Arendelle. That's why I dressed this way. I will try to impress upon him that I consider my duties as Queen of Arendelle to be of the highest priority, and I will never abuse my Power, or use it in any way that puts my people at risk." Elsa spoke as though reciting a memorized speech.

"You can handle it. You may want to avoid mentioning you made another snow monster."

"You need to be careful too. I had been thinking of sending some Royal Guardsmen with you, but a large group might draw attention to you. Now, I think it's best if you and Kristoff go alone."

"Are things really that bad?"

"Maybe. I don't know. Be safe. Don't tell anyone who you really are. If they know you are my sister, you could be a target."

"Alright, I'll be careful. By the way, what's that?" Anna had noticed an open trunk, containing an odd leather and metal garment.

Elsa looked at the box with a scowl. "Armor. Captain Lars has been after me to learn to better protect myself. He says I need to learn to wear armor."

"Why not make armor out of ice?"

"We tried that. He has me going to the training grounds to practice using my Power. The ice tends to shatter, even when I concentrate on it. If I make the ice thick enough to not shatter, it's too heavy to wear."

"Training? What sort of training?"

"How to defend myself, and how to stay in control of my Power. His methods are different than father's. Father tried to get me to control my Power by suppressing both it, and my feelings. Lars accepts my feelings, and is trying to teach me how to stay in control no matter how I'm feeling. He's always encouraging me to use the Power. He says the more I use it, the better I'll get."

Anna sat in a chair beside Elsa. She put her elbow on the table and her head in her hand. "So what's Lars like?" she asked with a smile.

With a smile on her face, Elsa looked up, her eyes drifting toward the ceiling. "Well, he's strong, very sure of himself, a natural leader . . ."

"And now he's giving you presents."

"What? No! It's not like that!" she exclaimed. Then Elsa's expression changed to one of worry. "Is it?"

"You will have to answer that yourself. Don't fight it, be careful, and be open."

Elsa thought for a few seconds, and then changed the subject. "How are your preparations going?"

"We're about done. That's actually what I came here to tell you. We expect to leave within the hour. Kristoff and Sven are happy. Enough snow fell last night, we can use his sled."

"I see you have dressed for your trip."

Anna wore a forest green dress, a brown cloak, and heavy winter boots. Although her clothes looked well made, they were plain, without decoration. "Kristoff recommended I wear simple clothes in natural colors. He says its best to blend in when you're traveling through the mountains and forest."

"Sounds like he knows what he is talking about." Elsa stood and walked to her sister. Anna also stood and the two exchanged a hug. "Be safe. Hurry back."

* * *

><p><strong>In this story, Lars is the character closest to being a Mary Sue or a self-insertion, Johan being the number two choice. When I realized the characters were straying into that role, I strove to minimize their appearance.<strong>


	8. Quest

On the afternoon of the second day of their trip, Anna began to get worried. The weather had turned, and snow started falling around noon. As the afternoon wore on, the snow began to get heavier, and the wind picked up.

"We need a place to stay. We cannot be out in this all night." Anna commented.

"We can if we have to. Even though I have a fairly good tent, I'd prefer to find something else," answered Kristoff.

"There're no more inns?"

"I knew about the one we stayed at last night, but I don't come this way very often. I'm not sure what's out here."

"What about that?" Anna asked, pointing off the road to a small shack.

"Sven, over there!" Kristoff called to his reindeer, who pulled the sled off the road. A few moments later, they pulled to a stop near the small building.

"Do you think anyone is home?"

"I don't see any smoke. It looks empty. Let me check." Kristoff stepped off the sled and walked to the door. "Hello? Anyone in there?" After knocking and waiting for a bit, he opened the door and looked in. "Looks like no one is here. Shall we unload?"

"Wait a minute. We cannot simply barge into someone's home."

"Hospitality of the mountains," said Kristoff off-handedly.

"I've never heard of that." Anna stepped off the sled, came to the door, and looked into the small, one-room cabin.

"It's sort of an unwritten law. Here in the mountains, the weather can turn bad in a moment. It can be dangerous to not have shelter. So most everyone allows travelers into their homes as a matter of course, whether they're home or not."

"Well, if that's the custom." Anna walked back to the sled and grabbed a bag.

"It's more than that. We need to take good care of the place. Leave it in better shape than we found it, if we can. For example, here the owner has a small wood supply. I'll cut some, more than we need, and leave him the extra. First, let me take care of Sven. While I do that, would you like to start dinner?"

"Sure. How do I do that?"

Kristoff stopped unhitching Sven and looked at Anna. "You don't know how to cook?"

"Why should I know how to cook? I'm a princess. I live in a castle filled with servants."

Kristoff looked at Sven, who looked at Kristoff, both sharing the same expression. "_Duh, you were expecting something else?"_ Kristoff said, speaking for his reindeer in a low tone. Then to Anna: "I can teach you."

Anna shrugged and smiled.

"I'll start on the wood. You keep unloading and get a fire started."

That evening, Anna learned how to cut meat and vegetables to make a simple stew. They had brought a few spices, so Kristoff showed her how much to use and how to adjust for taste. After eating, Kristoff played some music on his lute. The two sang and laughed. Outside they could hear the storm winds whistling through the pine trees. "Will Sven be alright out there?" Anna asked.

"Sure. He's a reindeer. They normally live outdoors in all sorts of weather."

By morning the snow had stopped and the wind had begun to die down. Low clouds drifted across the sky, bits of blue showing through here and there. Several inches of new snow promised easy going for the sled. After they had packed, Kristoff walked around the cabin, making sure they had left everything in good shape.

"We should leave the mountains today," Kristoff commented. "If we have to camp, I would prefer to do so in the foothills, where we can get some protection from the wind, rather than the eastern plains."

"You don't think we can find another inn? Or at least a cabin?"

"Out here? Almost no one lives out here. The only people found here are a few trading caravans and travelers."

"Wait, stop the sled," Anna pointed to where the ground slopped upwards from the right roadside.

"So, Pabbie has you collecting crystals too? Oh, and good eye."

"Actually, I asked what I could do for him. We keep asking for his help. I wanted to do something in return."

Kristoff reached into the back of the sled and retrieved his ice axe, walked to the slope and collected the rocks.

"I'm not sure why Pabbie wants them. They don't glow," wondered Anna.

"They do something to make them glow, I've never seen what," replied Kristoff as he stowed the crystals. Soon, they were on their way.

The road wound through the terrain, mostly downhill. Suddenly Anna saw some movement ahead.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I don't know. It went behind that tree. Whoa, Sven." Kristoff then called out, "Hello? Anyone there?"

The head of a small girl poked out from behind a tree, the wind blowing through her curly, golden hair.

"What's a child doing out here?" asked Anna. Then louder, "Are you alright? You can come out."

The girl took a step into view, keeping one hand on the tree, ready to dart back. Anna climbed off the sled and slowly walked forward, to a few feet in front of Sven. Then she knelt.

"Hi. I'm Anna. Who are you?"

"Gerda."

Anna examined Gerda. She had cloth-wrapped feet and wore dirty clothes. Other than that, she wasn't in bad shape.

"Hello, Gerda. What are you doing out here? Where are your parents?"

"They're home. They would not come with me."

"You're out here all alone?"

Gerda nodded.

"You shouldn't be out alone. Would you like to come with us?"

Gerda retreated behind the tree, leaving part of her head and one eye visible, then looked at Sven. She held his gaze for a moment, and then came out and ran forward. Anna raised her arms to receive her, but Gerda ran on past, to Sven instead, placing a hand on either side of the reindeer's head. They regarded each other for several seconds.

"Sven says you are nice people, and I should come with you." Gerda looked at Kristoff. "You do not look much like a prince."

"What?" Anna stood up. She cast Kristoff a confused look. "How? What? How do you know his name is Sven?"

"He told me, silly."

Anna and Kristoff cast another confused look at each other.

"You can talk to him?" asked Kristoff.

Gerda nodded back.

Anna stood, looking at Gerda, confused. "If you're going to come with us, you better get on the sled." She took Gerda's hand, and led her to the front seat. Gerda climbed into the sled, and took a seat between Anna and Kristoff.

"You're going the wrong way. We need to turn around." Gerda stood on the seat and looked behind them.

"We're going this way. We need to find someone," said Kristoff.

"No! I need to go the other way!" Gerda began climbing over Anna, trying to get off the sled. Anna tried to hold on to her. "Let me go, I got to go find Kai and save him from the Snow Queen!" cried Gerda.

Anna froze, and then turned to Kristoff. They both sat there, starring at each other, mouths agape. Too many weird things were happening too fast. In their confusion, Gerda slipped free of Anna and made good her escape. She ran behind the sled and continued along the road.

Kristoff and Anna both rolled off the sled and surged after her. Kristoff reached her first, catching her with both hands at the waist and lifting her off the ground.

"Put me down!" Gerda demanded. Kristoff lowered her to the ground, while continuing to hold her. Anna caught up with them and took Gerda's hand.

"You should not be wandering about by yourself through the mountains."

"But I got to save Kai! He's my best friend." Gerda stopped struggling and began to cry.

"It will be alright. We'll come back this way once we're done. The woman we're going to see might know something about your friend. She is supposed to be very wise." Anna said in a gentle voice.

"Promise?"

"Yes, of course."

As Anna comforted her, she noticed something on the ground, where Gerda's tears had fallen. A single rose bud started pushing through the snow. Within seconds the stem had grown to a few inches in height and the bud opened into a flower.

"What's going on here?" Anna whispered to Kristoff. He just spread his hands and shrugged.

Gerda stooped and looked at the flower. Anna whispered, "Bet she talks to flowers too."

"Oh, that would be _silly_," Kristoff whispered back.

"This one does not know anything about Kai either," said Gerda.

"Told you," whispered Anna.

Anna turned back to the girl. "What did the rose say?"

"It said 'Red was the color of the maiden's lips. She worked as a serving girl in a tavern. One day a merchant came to the tavern, and gave her a rose. She smiled, and suddenly the tavern was filled with roses.' But it does not know anything about Kai."

Anna looked at Kristoff, confused, then back to Gerda. "That's nice. But Gerda, please come back with us. We are going to see someone who might be able you help you find Kai."

Gerda looked up at Anna. "Really? You would not be trying to fool me."

"Really. I wouldn't do that. Here we go, back in the sled."

"It won't be that hard to find Kai, after all the Snow Queen is . . . . OW!" Kristoff rubbed his leg where Anna had just kicked him, then cast her a dirty look. Anna sent it right back and shook her head.

Soon they were back in the sled and on their way. Anna decided to let Gerda talk, asking as few questions as possible, as she was a very talkative child. Maybe she missed talking because she had been alone in the woods for several days.

"Gerda, how do you know Kai?" Anna asked.

"He lives in the house next to mine. Something happened to him a while ago. He got all mean. He said he did not like me anymore. Then one day his house started on fire. Everyone was screaming. I hid under my bed until they stopped. When I looked outside I saw Kai being taken away by the Snow Queen! When I tried to get my parents to help, they did not believe me. So I followed her myself."

"That was really brave of you."

"I had to! I had to save Kai. But I cannot find him."

"You have been wandering around in the woods all this time? What did you eat? Where did you sleep?"

"The wolves let me sleep with them. They are all cute and fuzzy. They invite me into their den, and I curl up in their fur. When I want to eat the rabbits bring me berries."

"How did you get here?"

Gerda put a finger to her mouth, thinking, remembering her trip. "Well, first I walked up into the mountains. It was a long way. Then I started back down and came to a river. The Snow Queen had to come that way, so I asked the river when she crossed, and if Kai was with her. The river would not answer. So I offered it my new red shoes. They are my most favorite shoes in the whole world. The river still did not answer, so I threw my shoes into it. The river pushed them back to me. I thought maybe I did not throw them far enough, even though I threw them as far as I could.

"Then I saw a little boat. I got in it, and went into the river and threw my shoes into the water. The river still did not tell me where Kai was. I tried to get back to shore but I could not figure out how. I drifted for hours. Then I drifted to an old lady on a crutch. She used her crutch to pull me to land.

"There was this little house there. It was where the old lady lived. She offered to take care of me. Could I have some water please?"

Anna reached around to the back of the sled, rummaged through the supplies, and found a water skin. "Here you go."

Gerda took a sip, and then continued. "Thank you. The old lady took me into her house, and gave me some food. Then she let me go play in her back yard. It has all kinds of flowers. I asked them all if they knew where Kai was. None of them knew, all they did was tell me stories."

"What sort of stories?"

"I found a buttercup and asked if it knew where Kai was. And it said, '_The bright warm sun shone on a little yard on the first warm day of spring. His bright beams rested on the white walls of the neighboring house. Close by bloomed the first yellow flower of the season, glittering like gold in the sun's warm ray. The old woman sat in her armchair at the house door, and her granddaughter, a poor and pretty servant-maid, came to see her for a short visit. When she kissed her grandmother, gold appeared everywhere. The gold of the heart was in that loving kiss. It was a golden morning. There was gold in the beaming sunlight, gold in the leaves of the lowly flower, and gold on the lips of the maiden._' That was the story the buttercup told me. But that had nothing to do with Kai."

"It's a very pretty story", Anna said encouragingly. "What did you do next?"

"None of the flowers knew where Kai was. I sat on the ground and started crying. A rose bush grew right where I sat. I asked it if it knew where Kai was. I thought it might know because roses are Kai's and my favorite flower. The rose bush didn't know anything either. It said the old woman had made it go into the ground, and Kai was not there. Because he was not in the ground, I knew that the Snow Queen must not have killed him. So I snuck out the back gate of the yard.

"I walked and walked. I did not know which way to go. Then I came to where another road went off from the road I was on. I did not know which way to go. I asked a crow sitting on a tree. He said I should go this way. He said I would meet a prince and a princess, if I went this way."

"Is that why you thought I was a prince?" asked Kristoff.

"Yes, the crow told me. He said I should go this way, to find a prince and princess who would help me. He said they would have a golden carriage pulled by a dozen noble steeds."

Gerda looked about the sled. "I guess you cannot always trust a crow. But you are a princess. I can tell," she said to Anna.

"Hey, Sven, did you know you're a noble steed?" Kristoff said as Sven looked back at him. "_I've always known I'm a noble steed_. That's right, buddy, you are."

"Well, we will help you. He was right about that," Anna said to Gerda.

Gerda fell silent. Looking at her, Anna saw the girl's eyes closing, and her head dropping. "Gerda, would you like to climb into the back of the sled and sleep?"

She nodded and stood on her seat. With Anna helping, she found her way to the rear of the sled, and lay amongst the bags of supplies.

They rode on, silently, for several minutes, until they were sure Gerda had fallen asleep. Then, Anna and Kristoff began talking in low tones.

"I cannot believe we found Gerda. What are the chances? She's Kai's friend and lived right there, when Elsa visited Cliffdale," said Anna.

"I'm not sure that finding her had anything to do with chance," answered Kristoff. "Pabbie sent us this way."

"You think he knew Gerda would be here?"

"No. Well, not like that. It's hard to explain. I lived with the trolls for several years while I grew up. I saw things like this several times. Pabbie would tell someone to go somewhere, or do something. Later, I would ask him what they would find. He always said he did not know, or something like '_What they need_'. I don't think he knew of Gerda at all. What I do think is he knew we needed to come this way, because we would find something important, something we needed to find."

"I wonder how Gerda is important," Anna said thoughtfully. "Maybe we just needed to rescue her from wandering in the woods? But she has all these weird powers too."

"Weird powers? You do remember who your sister is?"

"There's that."

"Why did you stop me from telling Gerda about Elsa?"

"Elsa recommended I don't tell anyone who I am. Gerda is a very talkative little girl. I thought it best if we don't tell her. Also, she might get scared off if she knew about Elsa."

Hours later, they were descending the last few foothills. They could see the eastern plains stretching into the distance. As they were approaching one of the last stands of trees, Anna started getting sleepy herself. She slid across the seat to Kristoff, rested her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>Gerda's story of her travels is lifted directly from the Andersen story "The Snow Queen".<strong>


	9. Ursla

"Now what?" said Kristoff as he pulled Sven to a stop. Anna opened her eyes, and saw an old woman sitting in the middle of the road. Dense woods surrounded them on either side.

"Hello? Can we help you?" Anna called.

The old woman looked at them, and held up a deflated water skin. "Got anything to drink?"

Anna looked about the floor around her feet. "I'm sure we have some spare water."

"Water? I don't want water." She struggled to her feet. "What do you have to _drink_?"

"I think you should give the nice lady some wine," said a man's voice from behind the sled.

Both Anna and Kristoff turned around, and saw two men standing on the road behind them, one holding a crossbow, the other a club. Then they saw four more emerge from the woods on either side. Two positioned themselves in Sven's path, the other two stayed at the side. Sven lowered his head, antlers forward, preparing to charge. Anna grabbed the reins, ready to make a quick get-away.

Kristoff placed his hands on hers. "Not this time, Anna. We cannot outrun arrows. They have us." Then to the men surrounding them: "What do you want?"

"What do we want? How about everything you got."

"Robbers," said Kristoff, under his voice.

A smaller person emerged from the woods, a child. About Gerda's size, she appeared older and more strongly built. She went to the old woman and grabbed her wine skin.

"Ursla! Give that back, you little hooligan!" the older woman said, angrily, as she tried to take the skin back.

The men watched with amusement.

"Mother, I think you have had quite enough. So what do we have here? Oh, a nice reindeer. He will make a fine meal." Ursla responded.

"What? You wouldn't dare!" Kristoff attempted to step off the sled, but a club crashing on the railing stopped him.

Ursla produced a small knife, waving the weapon at Sven. "Sure I would," she said as she walked to the sled. "What do we have back here?"

"What's going on?" Gerda said, standing and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Oh, look! A new playmate for me."

Gerda saw Ursla and her knife, and screamed. She backed into a corner and tried to make herself small.

"Where's my wine?" asked the old woman.

"Oh, all right." Ursla looked about the rear of the sled, found a full wine skin, and threw it to her. "There you go. Now what shall we do with this lot?" she asked.

"Take those two and kill 'em. The rest we take back to the castle," a robber responded.

Kristoff looked at Anna. "It looks like we'll have to take our chances fighting."

Gerda jumped to her feet and grabbed Anna. "You cannot kill her! She's a princess!"

The old woman lowered the wine skin. "A princess?" She looked intently at Anna. "Who are you?"

Flustered, Anna answered; "I'm Princess Anna from, ah, Lapland."

"Princess Anna of Lapland eh?" asked the old woman. She turned to the men, "she may be more valuable than all the rest of this junk."

"Right," said one of the men. He pointed to another of the robbers. "You, get on the sled and make sure they don't try anything. Let's get back."

Ursla jumped off the sled, and another man climbed on, his club at the ready. Surrounded by the robbers, Kristoff urged Sven forward. The robbers guided Kristoff off the road, though a gap between the trees. After driving about a mile across snow-covered terrain, they came to a decrepit old castle.

Anna looked at the near-ruin, as Kristoff drove through an opening in the wall. All the windows were frameless holes. The walls were cracked, and covered with half-dead vines. Here and there she saw gaps in the walls. Inside, the robbers had made camp among the remains of the great hall. Conditions looked barely better than camping outside. The damaged walls and roof provided some protection from the worst of the wind and snow, but little else.

"All right, stop right here, and get off," ordered the robber in the back of the sled. He watched as Anna and Kristoff stepped off the sled, then followed. He ignored Gerda.

"Now in there," the robber said.

"There? That looks like a cage you keep pigs in," complained Kristoff.

Another man pointed a crossbow at Kristoff. "You don't _have_ to go in."

His frustration showing, Kristoff knelt and crawled into the cage, Anna following. A robber locked the door with a large rusty padlock.

"Let's see what we got," he said, walking back to the sled. He climbed into the back and started tossing supplies onto the floor. Several others sifted through them. Yet another unhitched Sven.

The little robber girl took her knife and scraped it against Sven's neck. "Now you're going to be good, right?"

"Sven, don't resist," called Kristoff. Soon, one robber led Sven off to a far wall, and tied him to a hitch.

"So, how's my new playmate?" Ursla said, as she climbed into the sled.

"Don't hurt me!" screamed Gerda. She stood and tried to move farther away, squeezing herself into a corner of the sled.

"Oh, I'll be nice, as long as you behave." She waved the knife at Gerda, and then put it away. "What's your name?"

"Gerda," she replied in a tiny voice.

"I'm Ursla. You want to play?"

Gerda shook her head.

"Well, what do you want?"

"I want to go and find my best friend, Kai. Please, you got to let us go."

Ursla stopped and said in a more serious voice, "You have a best friend? I've never had . . . would you like to be my best friend?"

"We can be friends," Gerda answered tentatively.

Ursla smiled and took Gerda's hand. "Here, let me show you my stuff." She climbed off the sled, pulling a somewhat reluctant Gerda after her. Together, they walked through the great hall to a far corner. Gerda saw a makeshift bed of straw and rags. Broken cups and plates, old clothing, bits of metal, scraps of wood and various other items littered the floor. However, what caught her attention were all the cages on the wall. A dozen small cages were hung there, each holding a bird.

"Why do you have all these birds in cages?"

"They're pigeons, and they're my friends. They were the only ones I ever had. Before you came."

Gerda looked at the pigeons. They cooed softly back. "They do not want to stay here. They want to go free."

"I don't want them to go. They're my friends."

"You shouldn't keep friends locked up," said Gerda, as she continued looking at the birds. "That one says he would stay if you opened the cage. He says he is old and could not find food on his own anymore because he is weak."

"How do you know that?" asked Ursla.

"He told me."

"No one can talk to birds. You are just making it up."

"Yes I can!"

"No you can't. Here, I'll prove it."

Ursla opened the pigeon's cage. He flew through the opening and landed on the floor. The pigeon hopped around on the ground, looking for food. After pecking and eating a few fallen seeds, he found an old crate, jumped onto the box's edge and perched.

"See? I told you," said Gerda. She knelt to look at the pigeon. "He says he will stay here as long as you keep feeding him."

Ursla looked at Gerda, her eyes filled with wonder. "You really _can_ talk to birds. What do the others say?"

Gerda looked at the birds one by one. Suddenly, she became quite excited. "This one says she saw Kai! She says she saw him a few days ago. She saw the Snow Queen locking him away in her palace of ice!"

"I just caught her yesterday. Who is the Snow Queen?"

"She is an evil old woman. She has magic powers and can make snow. I saw her kidnap Kai. I've been trying to find him so I can save him."

"You must really care for him," Ursla said softly. "Especially if you're going to try and rescue him from an evil sorceress. You must be very brave."

"He's my best friend. We have to save him. Please let us go," Gerda pleaded.

Ursla considered for a long time before she finally relented. "You're a good person. I cannot bear the thought of you being without your best friend."

Gerda smiled a large, radiant smile. Then, worried, she looked about the hall, noticing that all the men had vanished. "Where is everyone?"

"They're out looking for more travelers. You have time to escape, if you are fast. But you must be quiet." She pointed to where her mother had fallen asleep, sitting at a table, still holding the wine skin.

Gerda ran to the cage containing Anna and Kristoff. Ursla quickly followed, catching Gerda as she arrived at the cage. "You cannot take them," she said, her voice hushed.

"But they got to come. And Sven. I cannot leave them here."

"There's no choice. I don't have the key. It's with one of the men."

"Actually, that's not a problem," said Anna. She reached between the bars, slid the lock off the hasp and opened the door.

"How did you do that?" asked Ursla.

"A, uh, friend showed me how to pick locks. It's actually been unlocked for several minutes now. We've been waiting for a chance to sneak out."

Kristoff immediately ran to Sven and released him.

"Be quiet, and be quick," said Ursla. "I don't know when the others will be back."

Anna started reloading what supplies she could find. Much had been plundered and scattered about the room. Still, she recovered some food, water skins, and Kristoff's tent.

Soon Kristoff had Sven hitched to the sled. "We're pointing the wrong way, and the sled is on this stone floor. When we get going I'll have to have Sven pull us around and out. It'll make a racket. We'll have to be fast."

"Fast is good. Gerda, are you ready?" asked Anna.

Gerda turned to Ursla and gave her a hug. "Thank you for letting us go."

"Ursla, we can take you too. Would you like to come with us?" asked Anna.

"No, I should stay here to take care of mother." She turned to the cage and climbed in, closing the door and locking the lock. "This will fool the others. Gerda, good luck with your friend Kai."

Kristoff waited while the two girls climbed into the sled and sat. With grim determination, he called to Sven, "Sven! Go! Go as fast as you can!" He gave the reins a sharp shake, then hauled back the right one.

Sven bolted to the right, dragging the sled about. Then he ran for the gap in the wall. The sled continued to rotate, slid sideways, and threatened to overturn. Various items left on the floor flew about as the sled plowed through them, clattering against the walls and along the floor.

"Wha? What's going on? Get back here!" The noise awoke the old woman. She tried to stand and give chase. With the sled fishtailing wildly behind, Sven ran from the hall and into the snow.

"We need to go downhill. It's faster and we need to go as fast as we can. Anna, see that lever? It's a brake. Pull on it to keep us from going too fast and tripping Sven."

A crossbow bolt buried itself in the sled's side. Anna looked to their left, and saw two robbers, reloading their crossbows. Closer to the sled, a few feet off its left side, she saw the ground drop away into a narrow gully. "Over there!" She called, pointing to the left.

Kristoff had already started guiding Sven to the right, away from the robbers. Anna reached for and pulled on the left rein.

"Wait!" barked Kristoff, too late. Sven turned left, toward the edge of the gully. He jumped, and the sled followed him over the edge, falling eight feet to the snow below. Sven hit the bottom and stumbled, and as luck would have it, he managed to stay on his feet. The sled leaned way to the left before coming falling back onto the runners. Two crossbow bolts shot above everyone's heads, and struck the slope to their right.

"Are you crazy? You almost got us all killed!" yelled Kristoff.

"It worked didn't it? They can't shoot us down here," replied Anna.

"Give me that and let me drive." Angrily, Kristoff took the rein from Anna. "Now get on the brake!"

Sven continued running downhill, along the bottom of the steep gully. The sled accelerated. Sven ran as fast as he could. As they drove downward the sled's weight pushed forward on Sven, threatening to trip him, until Anna pulled the brake lever, swinging the braking board downward, into the snow.

"Do you think we lost them?" asked Anna.

"No, not yet. They'll follow us. I want to get to the plains. It'll be night soon, and the wind there will blow snow over our tracks. With no tracks, and in the dark, they'll have trouble finding us."

Kristoff continued guiding Sven along the gully, making what speed he could. After an hour, the slope flattened, and the land opened before them.

* * *

><p><strong>Originally, chapters 8, 9, and 10 were all one long chapter. I later split them up. Oddly, the notes for this long chapter were the shortest, only 3 lines long. I had no idea what to write. Then I started working on it, and the entire thing spilled out, almost writing itself.<strong>


	10. The Eastern Plains

The sun had begun to set behind some clouds, and the day started to get dark. Despite the failing light, Kristoff drove on, into the twilight, changing directions now and then. They drove over low hills and into shallow valleys. There were no trees, only the occasional snow covered bush. The wind whipped around them, blowing snow across the ground.

"I think we have gone far enough," Kristoff said. "It's getting too dark to see in any case."

"How about the lantern?" asked Anna.

"We're not going to use the lantern. Or have a fire. We're trying to hide. There's some light, we should have enough to set up the tent."

"If we're going camp here with no fire, it's going to get cold." Anna turned to Gerda. "How are you doing? Are you alright?"

Gerda nodded, looking scared and remaining quiet.

Kristoff stepped off the sled. "We need to get the tent up. We'll put it here, downwind of the sled, where we'll get some protection."

Gerda climbed off and took a few steps into the darkness.

"Oh, Gerda, be careful. Stay with us." Anna looked around. "It's so dark. I wish we had an aurora tonight."

"I'm glad there isn't one," replied Kristoff. "The light would make it easier to find us. No moon either. It's close to a new moon, so it won't rise until a little before dawn."

Sven gave a snort, turned to the side, and lowered his head.

"What is it?" Kristoff moved to Sven's side and looked the direction he pointed. In the distance he saw dimly glowing eyes. "Wolves," he said, apprehensively.

Anna looked at Kristoff, then to Gerda. She moved to Gerda's side, ready to protect her. Gerda had other ideas.

"Wolfies!" she cried, and ran into the darkness directly at the wolves.

"Wait, stop!"

"Gerda, no!"

Kristoff and Anna called together as they ran after her. Then, Anna put her hand against Kristoff's chest. "Let me. Remember, she said she has been sleeping with wolves."

Anna walked forward, into the darkness, and soon found Gerda. She had stopped well before the wolves, confused, looking back and forth between them and Anna. Anna knelt so Gerda could see her in the dying light.

"Gerda, wolves can be dangerous." Anna said.

"Not these. They're my friends. See how nice he is?" Gerda pointed to a wolf. Anna had not heard him approach. The wolf looked at Anna from a mere two feet away, calmly regarding her with large eyes.

Anna momentarily froze in place, taking a moment to get control of her fear. "Why, he's sort of like a big dog."

The wolf gave a low growl. "Don't call him that! He's a wolf!" scolded Gerda.

"Right. I'm sorry. But, what about Sven? Reindeer and wolves don't get along."

An uncertain look crossed Gerda's face. She looked at the wolf, and then ran off toward Sven, leaving Anna alone. She watched Gerda run off before turning back to the wolf, seeing his nose now inches from her own. "Please don't eat me," Anna asked quietly.

Gerda ran to Sven and looked at him for a few seconds. "He says he'll be good if the wolves are good," she called back to Anna.

Anna carefully stood and walked back to Kristoff. "It looks like we're sleeping with wolves tonight." Kristoff could do nothing more than lower and shake his head, before going back to pitching the tent.

"If we can't have a fire, we'll have to eat a cold meal," Anna said as she looked through their supplies. "I think we recovered some cheese and bread."

"That should get us through the night," replied Kristoff, warily eyeing the wolf pack as they came forward. Soon five wolves were roaming about the campsite. Sven appeared to accept the wolves as he lowered himself to the ground to sleep. A wolf lay down beside him.

"The tent's up. Gerda, you should sleep between us. It will help keep you warm."

Gerda ducked and crawled into the tent. Anna followed, carrying a bag a food along with every blanket and warm item of clothing she could find. Finally, Kristoff entered.

Anna spread a few blankets on the floor and they all got settled, barely able to see each other. Anna began passing food to everyone when a wolf poked his head into the tent. Gerda reached to him and petted his head. "Isn't he nice?" Then to the wolf: "You can sleep over here."

The wolf moved to the side of the tent and laid there. A moment later a second entered and settled on the other side of the tent.

After they had all finished eating, Anna and Kristoff lay on the blankets facing each other, their backs to the wolves, with Gerda between them, additional blankets covering them all. Gerda reached across Anna and patted a wolf. "Goodnight, Wolfie."

Hours later, movement startled Anna awake. The wolf at her back had risen to his feet, and made a low growl. Suddenly, he ran from the tent. The other wolf quickly followed.

"What's happening?" Gerda asked, sounding sleepy.

"Quiet!" came Kristoff's tense reply. "Listen."

The three froze, listening, seeing nothing in the total darkness of the tent. In the distance, a wolf snarled. Then they heard a sound like men yelling at each other. Anna felt about in the dark, found Gerda's hand, and held on tightly.

They heard more yelling, more snarling, and then a pause. Suddenly, the wolves all started howling. Minutes later, the two wolves returned to the tent, entered, and laid down as though nothing had happened.

"Good Wolfie," said Gerda. She rolled over and fell asleep.

Near dawn, Anna awoke a second time. Dim light bled into the tent. She stuck her head outside to have a look. The eastern sky had a deep blue color, with a thin crescent moon positioned above the horizon. The light she had seen in the tent did not come from the dawn, it came from above. She looked up, into a green glowing curtain, slowly curling across the sky. She ducked back into the tent.

"Gerda, come look," Anna whispered.

Gerda awoke, and followed Anna, poking her head out into the cold.

"The sky's awake," whispered Anna.

"Ooooooh," Gerda exclaimed.

After Anna grabbed some blankets, the two lay on their backs with their heads outside the tent, watching as the aurora slowly faded in the growing light of day.

Kristoff awoke with the rising sun. "You two are already up?' he asked.

"We have been watching the aurora," replied Gerda.

Kristoff smiled at Gerda. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Gerda nodded enthusiastically.

Kristoff left the tent and walked to where Sven stood. "_Look, I've cleared off some snow. _Nice work with those antlers, buddy_. Have some grass and moss. _Looks delicious, but I think I'll gather some wood and cook people food." Sven looked disappointed. "For them. I'm sure you understand." Kristoff pointed to the two women. Gerda giggled while she watched Kristoff and Sven having a 'conversation'.

Kristoff found sufficient branches to make a small fire to cook some food. They had a warm breakfast, much better than last night's dinner.

"You're not worried about the smoke?" asked Anna between bites of a meatcake.

"I think we've seen the last of those robbers. I bet they believe we were eaten by the wolves." Kristoff passed a bowl of oatmeal to Gerda.

"All the wolves appear to have left. The two in the tent left right after we started watching the aurora."

"I never thought of wolves as friends. I'm sure glad we had them here last night." Kristoff paused, then turned to Gerda. "Thank you for having your friends guard us."

"You're welcome. They're good wolfies. They scared away the bad men," Gerda replied.

Soon after they finished eating, they broke camp and loaded the sled. Their adventure with the robbers had forced them north of the road they had been following, so Kristoff drove them southeast, hoping to intercept the road close to their goal. By mid morning they had regained the road. Half an hour later, they saw a round, hut-like building in the distance. Thatched roofing extended past the walls into eaves that ended a few feet above the ground.

"Do you suppose that's it?" asked Kristoff.

"It's in the right place. We are where Pabbie's directions said we would find Finnoa."

Kristoff stopped Sven several feet away from the building.

"How do you suppose we get in?" Kristoff asked.

"Let's look around," Anna said, as she stepped off the sled started circling the hut. About half way around she called out. "Over here!"

The three gathered at the entrance. Steps lead down several feet to a landing and a door. Oddly, none of the steps, or the landing at the bottom, had any snow on them.

Kristoff motioned to Anna. "Be my guest."

"Why am I always the one to knock on the mysterious doors?"

"Because you're so good at it."

Anna gave him a dirty look, turned, and descended the steps.

"And, because you're a princess," Kristoff added.

"Hello?" Anna called, knocking on the door.

A deep woman's voice answered from within. "Now who is calling at my door?"

"I'm Princess Anna. We're looking for someone named Finnoa."

After a few seconds the door opened. "You have found her. Quickly, come inside, out of the cold."

Anna, followed by Gerda and Kristoff, entered a large, circular room, decorated in a manner they had never seen. Blankets with odd, multi-colored angular patterns adorned the walls. On another section of the wall, a strange carved wooden mask, thin and tall, looked at them with empty eyes. The room was warm, almost too warm. Finnoa had dressed for the heat. Barefoot, she wore a short skirt and a shirt cut off to reveal her midriff. A tall woman, a little taller than Kristoff, she had short, black, tightly curled hair, with skin the color of fertile earth. She carried herself with the regal poise Anna recognized, one both she and Elsa had been trained to have.

"Whoa, hot in here," remarked Kristoff. He looked around, but saw no fireplace, or any other method for heating the room, other than a few candles, which provided the room's only light.

"It's how Finnoa likes it. The warmth reminds me of home," said Finnoa.

"You must have come form the south, the far south," replied Anna.

"Yes. In my homeland, the snow never falls except on the tops of the tallest mountains. The days are always hot, the nights warm. At mid-day the sun is always near the top of the sky."

"You're far from home. Do you mind my asking why?"

"Sometimes you must travel far to find yourself. Now, what brings you to Finnoa?"

"Pabbie told us to come here. He said you could help us."

"Pabbie? I know of no Pabbie."

"Well, he's a troll," Anna said, uncertain as to how Finnoa would take it.

"A troll! Now that is a strange one. Why would a troll send you to see me?"

Gerda had been patient as long as she could stand. She ran forward. "You have to help Kai. Something is wrong with him, and the Snow Queen has kidnapped him. He's my best friend and you have to help him."

Finnoa kneeled, her face breaking into a smile. "Now who is this?"

"I'm Gerda."

"What a wonderful little girl you are! What of this Kai, who is he? What happened to him?"

"We're not quite sure what's wrong with him," replied Anna. "He lived in Cliffdale . . ."

Finnoa stood and paced across the room. "Cliffdale! I have heard of the trouble there. Some bad magic has befallen that village."

"We were hoping you could help us cure Kai, and maybe the entire village."

Finnoa stopped and faced Anna. "I cannot help you."

"What?" Anna said, shocked.

"You must!" exclaimed Gerda. "Kai is my best friend in all the world!"

"You do not need me. You already have all you need," Finnoa said.

"We do?" Anna looked at Kristoff, who looked equally confused.

Finnoa walked back to Gerda, kneeling and placing a hand on her head. "This wonderful child. Have you not noticed her Power? Wherever she goes, people, animals, and even the plants will help her. She has all that is needed to cure her friend."

"But how?" asked Gerda.

"Go to him, do what feels right."

"But how do I get him away from the Snow Queen?"

"Don't worry about that, Gerda," answered Anna. "I can take care of her. But what about the village?" Anna asked Finnoa.

"That you must find for yourselves." Facing Gerda, she continued. "Now your friend needs you. You had best be on your way. Finnoa bids you good travels."

Anna bowed to Finnoa. "Thank you."

The three climbed the stairs, into the cold wind and snow.

"What a relief! It was too hot in there. Now I know what Elsa means when she says the cold is refreshing," said Anna.

"Who's Elsa?" asked Gerda.

Anna felt a little embarrassed, and worried, that she let Elsa's name slip. "She's my sister," she replied. "You will meet her soon."

"You have a sister? Is she a princess too?"

"She used to be a princess. Now she's the Queen."

Gerda looked at the sky for a moment, then back to Anna. "Can we go find Kai now?"

"Yes, we can. That's where we will go next."

"Good. We got to go north, to the Snow Queen's ice palace."

"Actually, her ice palace is to the west of here."

"How would you know?"

"Well, it's close to where I live. I've seen it."

"Gerda's face lit up. "Really? You know where to go? Yay! Kai, we're coming for you!"

Kristoff moved to Anna's side, speaking softly. "We will need to do a minor a detour to the south. I want to go back a different way."

"To avoid the robbers?" Anna asked.

"Yes. It will add a day to our trip, but I don't want to have to deal with them again."

Anna looked at their supplies. "An extra day? Do we have sufficient food?"

"I think we have enough. There's a lot of food in the forest, if you know where to look. We should be fine."

A few minutes later, Kristoff asked, "How do you suppose Finnoa kept her home so warm?"

"Maybe that's part of _her_ Power."

"All these people with Powers, it's beginning to make me feel inadequate."

Anna put her arm around Kristoff. "Trust me, you're anything but inadequate."

Later, when Gerda had fallen asleep, Kristoff whispered to Anna, "Do you think her power effected us?" He nodded toward the rear of the sled, indicating Gerda. "Maybe we picked her up and helped her because she made us do it?"

"Do you really think you need persuasion to help a child who's alone in the forest? What was that you said, the hospitality of the mountains?"

"I guess not. But I think it may have been part of the reason why Ursla let her go."

"I've been thinking the same thing," Anna said, thoughtfully.

"You know, you're going to have to tell her about Elsa eventually."

"I know, I know. Let's get her to Kai first."

* * *

><p><strong>Counting the days from the Michaelmas Royal ball, Anna sees the moon rise on the morning of October 10. Given the moon's phase on that date, and that Oken said Elsa's storm was in July, and that Anna and Hans danced in the light of a full moon, my story fixes Elsa's coronation to between July 6 and July 10.<strong>


	11. Kai

Five days had passed since Anna left on her quest. Once or twice a day, Elsa had rode to the ice palace to visit Kai. Although he appeared to like seeing her, he grew more and more sullen, doing little more than pushing the puzzle blocks she made for him about. Every day, he sank farther into darkness. Elsa could feel his despair. She had come to care for this child, and her heart broke to see him so afflicted.

Today she could take no more. She had to try, one more time, to cure him. She rode to Overlook, hoping her Power could melt whatever had frozen his spirit, yet apprehensive at what might happen when she tried.

She dismounted at the top of the road, beside the two Royal Guardsmen stationed there. As she walked to the palace entrance, she gave orders to the two snow monsters, having them move back to the road and stand with the guardsmen. The two guardsmen watched them approach, and then edged closer to the road back to Arendelle.

On entering the great hall, she saw Olaf's body once again scattered about the room. "Kai, Kai, Kai. Please don't hurt Olaf."

"Why not? He's just a dirty pile of snow."

"He's my friend."

Kai looked back to his puzzles. She noticed he had actually succeeded solving one, the first in two days. Turning from him, Elsa gestured at the snow debris. Power swirled, and she brought Olaf back together.

"Oh! Out of body experience!" Olaf said in a singsong voice. "I was a little butterfly, flitting about the mountains." He slowly spun about, waving his twig arms.

"Olaf, could you go outside for a bit? Move away, back to where you see Marshmallow and Snowflake standing."

She waited for the little snowman to get clear, then kneeled in front of Kai.

"Come here, let me see you." Kai stood and let Elsa hug him. Elsa thought about Anna, her people, and how every child, including this one, deserved love. Power flowed about them, and through them, engulfing them in light. The effect grew until light filled the palace and beyond. A swirling glow enveloped the entire hilltop. After a few minutes, Elsa allowed her Power to dissipate, and released Kai.

The ice palace had been swept away by the flow of Power. Greenery covered the hillside, a riot of summer growth. Kai looked about in wonderment. Elsa sat back in the flowers, smiling as he picked one. _He is better. I have cured him, _she thought, her hopes fulfilled.

Then she watched, horrified, as he tore the flower to shreds. Kai threw the pieces to the ground and began to stomp on them. "Die! Die you bug-ridden piece of rot!"

Elsa closed her eyes and felt herself sinking into the darkness. She lowered her head as a tear started to well in her eye, realizing her efforts had done nothing. She fought it back, wanting to remain strong for Kai.

Hearing the ripping sound of plants being torn to bits, her heart sank farther. She forced her eyes open, and saw Kai had found a stick, and was swinging it repeatedly at a rose bush. Once the plant had been shredded, he wandered to the cliff's edge, and looked down.

"Can we go now? I want to go to that ugly little village. You can crush it with ice, and then I can set fire to it. We can destroy everything."

With difficulty, Elsa stood, her hands trembling. _I cannot let him go, not yet. I have to find an excuse, _she thought.

"Snow Queen? Are you all right?" Kai asked, coming forward a few steps.

Elsa forced a smile. "I'm fine." Somehow she kept her voice steady. "No, we cannot leave quite yet, you still need to do one thing for me."

"What?" he said, returning to Elsa.

"Close your eyes."

Elsa held the child for a long time, fighting back the tears, resisting what she had to do. Eventually she raised her right leg and brought her foot down sharply. A new ice sheet formed, from which she made a new structure, much smaller than the ice palace, six simple walls with slit windows, and a main door at the top of the stairs.

Elsa released Kai. He looked about the small icy cell. "What do I have to do?"

"Solve one last puzzle for me," she said weakly, trying to hide her feelings. With a trembling hand, Elsa created a new set of ice blocks, the most complex she could. "Arrange those to spell out a word." _Let him choose the word, _she thought. _Make that part of the puzzle._

"What word?"

"You're a clever boy, you'll figure it out."

"I know! 'Eternity.' Once the blocks spell 'eternity' then I can leave and we will be together, for eternity.

"Yes, that's right," she lied. "I know you can do it." She felt like everything was crashing down about her.

"Once I do, we can go back to that ugly village where I use to live and, together, we can destroy it."

As he spoke, Kai wrapped his arms around himself, and began to shiver. Elsa suddenly realized her attempt to cure Kai did have one result; her Power had undone the effects from the two kisses she had given him. He once again was affected by the cold and could remember his home. Horrified, she realized she would have to do it again, kiss him to numb his sensitivity to cold and his memory of home and family one more time.

Her mind searched for some way out. _Maybe I should take him to the castle. Maybe just take him home. _But every option appeared worse. With her heart breaking, knowing the harm she could do, she stooped, and kissed Kai once on the cheek, and once on the head.

"Now, see if you can solve your puzzle for me," she said.

Kai played with the blocks for a few minutes, and then sank back, pushing them about seemingly at random. Elsa watched him as despair closed around her. She saw Kai had sunk so deep, he could not concentrate on anything, even a task he wanted to do, to get a goal he wished to have. The only thing he seemed able to focus on was destroying anything he saw as ugly.

Elsa walked out of the ice prison, and closed the door. She stopped for a moment, thinking about how she had not only failed, again, but had deceived a child, given him an impossible task, and locked him away in a prison of ice.

She motioned for Marshmallow and Snowflake to come forward. "No one enters or leaves, except for Olaf and myself," she ordered, her voice sounding hollow and empty. Obeying, the two snow monsters stationed themselves on either side of the door.

Elsa slowly walked down the icy stairs while looking at her hands, her powerful, powerless hands. When she reached the ground, she sat on the bottommost step, lowered her head, and wept.

* * *

><p><strong>I cannot read this chapter without shedding a tear.<strong>

**Oh, and there goes ice palace #2!**


	12. Gerda

In the afternoon, four days after leaving Finnoa, Sven pulled the sled to the top of the last pass before home. Soon after, Anna and Kristoff could see a guard shack, manned by two Royal Guardsmen. The guards saw Anna and came to attention.

"Princess Anna, welcome back."

"Thank you. I have a message for the Queen. Tell her we will proceed to the ice palace directly."

"Very well," a guard replied. "Will there be anything else?"

"Tell the Queen we have a cure for Kai," Anna replied.

"Yes, Princess." He walked behind the guard shack, and started getting his horse ready.

Kristoff drove the sled along the road toward Arendelle. An hour later they came to the cutoff to Overlook. As the sled started climbing the steep road, Gerda awoke, and rose to her feet.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Hi, sleepy head. We're almost there. We should see the ice palace soon," Anna replied.

Gerda climbed into the front of the sled, taking her seat between Anna and Kristoff. She looked forward with anticipation. As they approached the top, Anna began getting concerned. "Where is it? Did something happen?" She and Kristoff exchanged worried looks.

"You said you knew where her ice place is," complained Gerda.

"The ice palace is gigantic. We should be seeing some of it right over that ridge. We'll get a better look once we round that last turn right up ahead."

Elsa tried to adjust the metal plates protecting her shoulder yet another time. She could not believe Captain Lars had persuaded her to wear the armor. Elsa tried to not think about Anna and Kristoff, as they were late returning. She worried about Anna, and felt she had to do something to distract herself.

Lars and a few Royal Guard waited at the practice field. "Your Majesty, thank you for coming properly prepared," he said. Along with the armor, Elsa had also put her hair up and out of the way, again on the captain's recommendation.

"If you could please give us a pile of snow?" requested Lars.

Elsa extended her right hand and did so. She gave the Captain a questioning glance.

"In combat, not getting hit can be more important than hitting your target."

Elsa watched Lars' men scoop snow into their hands and start making snowballs. They eyed her with expressions varying from worry to amusement. Elsa suddenly realized who today's target would be.

"So this is why you wanted me to wear the armor. How do you wear this for any length of time? It's uncomfortable."

"Yes. My men throw harder than the children you had at the Royal snowball fight. In addition, you need to get use to wearing armor. This is light infantry armor. The leather allows for a high degree of freedom of movement, something I believe is needed for you to effectively use your Power. The metal plates cover vulnerable areas, such as joints and your vital organs," Lars reached for and picked up a helmet, "and your head. Now if you would please come with me."

They started walking onto the field when a mounted guardsman rode up.

"Queen Elsa! Princess Anna has returned!"

Elsa spoke to the rider. "Have her meet me at the castle." Turning to Captain Lars, "We will finish this later."

"My Queen, she said she's going to Overlook directly," the horseman explained. "She said she could cure the boy."

Elsa looked a little alarmed. "The snow monsters. They don't know she's coming."

Lars replied, "I told you not to use them. They do not have the proper training."

Elsa turned to the horseman, "Give me your horse."

He dismounted, and Elsa started to mount. "I wanted magical guards for a magical problem." With that, she rode off.

Lars watched her go, her head unprotected by the helmet he still held. "We better get some men together," he said to his second in command.

One guardsman piped up. "Sir, what's that?" He pointed to the cliff top a little to the west of Overlook.

Lars looked and, for a second, saw a black winged creature, larger than any bird, before it flew behind the ridge. "Get everyone available. And get them fast."

The sled topped the road, giving Kristoff, Anna, and Gerda a clear view of the snow covered hilltop. Gerda looked at the simple ice structure sitting in the clearing.

"That's not much of an ice palace," Gerda commented.

"I don't get it. I remember leaving it _right here,_" Anna said, looking confused. "What happened?" she asked the Royal Guard stationed at the road's end.

"Princess Anna, Queen Elsa destroyed her ice palace and replaced it with this . . . ice prison."

Gerda looked confused. "Queen Elsa's ice palace? I thought you said this was the Snow Queen's ice palace."

"Queen Elsa _is_ the Snow Queen," replied the other guard, some confusion in his voice. While he spoke, Anna waved her hands and made shushing noises, trying to stop him. The guard did not understand her fast enough. Frustrated, Anna threw her hands into the air, closed her eyes, and waited for the inevitable.

Gerda turned to Anna, her face showing surprise and anger. "Your sister is the Snow Queen? You fibbed to me!" She jumped from the sled and ran through the snow toward the ice prison. Anna quickly followed.

As Gerda drew close, Marshmallow took a step forward. "No one except Queen Elsa and Olaf!" he bellowed.

Gerda pulled to a stop, allowing Anna and Kristoff to catch up. "I am Princess Anna. You will step aside and allow us passage." She strode forward.

"No one except Queen Elsa and Olaf!" Marshmallow made a grab for Anna. She tried to dodge his grip, but an icy finger caught an arm and knocked her down. The two guardsmen came running forward, drawing their swords. One ran past Anna, while the other helped her back to her feet.

"Now see here, Snow Monster, Princess Anna is Royalty, and has right of command! Stand aside."

"No one except Queen Elsa and Olaf!" Snowflake roared, as he came beside Marshmallow and made a grab for the guard. He jumped to the left, swinging his sword. He cut the monster's snowy leg, to no apparent effect.

In the confusion, Gerda thought she saw an opening and made a dash for the prison. Marshmallow saw her and stomped his foot directly in her path. Snow splashed everywhere, knocking Gerda back and to the ground.

"Gerda! Don't!" cried Anna. She ran to Gerda, with Kristoff following a few feet behind. Anna grabbed Gerda, and threw her back toward Kristoff. The effort caused Anna to slip and fall into the snow. She rolled onto her side, and saw Marshmallow's foot coming down directly on top of her. With no time to escape, she covered her head with her arms and braced for the worst.

"Stop!"

Everyone stopped. Everyone looked. Elsa, mounted on her horse, had arrived at the road's summit. Anna took the opportunity to roll from under Marshmallow's still-upraised foot, stand, and run to Kristoff.

Elsa dismounted and strode forward, her anger clearly showing. "What is the meaning of this? My guards are fighting each other?" She looked at the two snow monsters. "You attack my sister, the Princess?"

"Apologies, Queen Elsa," said one guardsman, as he came to attention.

Gerda recognized Elsa despite the armor. She ran to Anna, grabbed her leg and hid behind her. Marshmallow looked off into the distance and tapped two icy claws against each other, trying to look innocent.

"But you said…" began Snowflake, but was quickly silenced by an angry glare from Elsa.

Anna caught Elsa's eye. Moving only her eyes, she looked at Gerda, then gestured with her head toward the ice prison, and finally smiled and nodded to her sister.

Elsa had no idea what had been going on and knew nothing about this young girl. She did know one thing: She could trust her sister.

"Let them through," she ordered the snow monsters. They took a few steps to either side. Gerda looked to Anna, who smiled back, and nodded. "Yes, you can go," she said.

Releasing Anna's leg, Gerda ran to the prison's steps.

Elsa walked to Anna. "Why did I just to that?" she asked with in an irritated tone.

"That Finnoa woman says Gerda can cure Kai. Gerda lived in Cliffdale. They know each other. They're next-door neighbors."

"They're what? Wait, how can she cure Kai?"

Anna paused, suddenly realizing she had no idea what she had allowed to happen. "I'm not sure. Magic?"

Elsa rolled her eyes, turned, and approached to the ice prison. Anna and Kristoff quickly followed. When they arrived at the doorway, they could see Gerda and Kai near the back, with Kai backing away from Gerda.

"Stay away from me, you ugly little monster!" Kai screamed.

"Kai, it's me, Gerda! Your best friend!" Crying, Gerda took a few steps forward.

Unseen by Kai, Olaf walked behind him and lay on the icy floor. Kai continued backing away from Gerda, until his legs ran into Olaf and he fell backwards. Gerda took the opening, running forward and throwing herself on Kai. She held him and hugged him, her tears falling on his face. Kai struggled to get up, to push her off. Then he calmed.

"Gerda? Is that you?"

Gerda raised herself off Kai. "Kai! Oh, Kai!" She hugged him again. This time he returned the gesture.

Anna looked at Elsa. Tears were streaming down Elsa's smiling face. Anna reached for her sister and pulled her close.

Gerda, Kai, and Olaf all stood. Gerda saw Olaf, realizing for the first time he wasn't a random snow pile. "What . . . who are you?

"Hi. I'm Olaf," said the little snowman with a large smile on his face. He smiled and waited expectantly.

"He's here to guard me," said Kai. "The Snow Queen wants to make sure I don't get away."

"I'm Olaf . . .?"

Gerda suddenly understood what Olaf wanted. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Gerda." Then to Kai, "we need to get out of here. It's cold and we need to get out."

"I know. I wasn't cold before, but now I am. But I can't leave. The Snow Queen will not let me go until I solve a puzzle."

"A puzzle? What puzzle?"

Kai looked around, trying to find the blocks. "Somewhere around here I have these puzzle blocks. I have to arrange them to spell 'Eternity'."

"I don't know how to spell," said Olaf.

By the door, Anna turned to Elsa. "A puzzle? He has to solve a puzzle?"

Elsa wiped away a tear. "I think that puzzle will just happen to be solved." She extended a hand and made a small circle. With a small gust of Power, some small ice blocks on the floor rearranged themselves.

Kai and Gerda walked about the room, looking at the floor. "I know I left them around here somewhere. Oh, there they are." Kai looked closer. "What happened? I don't remember solving them, but look!"

They both looked at the blocks. Kai last remembered seeing them scattered at random. Now they spelled the word, 'Eternity'.

"Does that mean the Snow Queen will let you leave?" asked Gerda.

"I'm not sure. I told her I would stay with her forever once I solved the puzzle. Now I don't want to. I just want to go home, with you."

"You wanted to stay with the Snow Queen? Why?"

"I don't know. Everything I saw looked ugly, except for her. She had this beautiful darkness. I felt I had to stay with her."

"Maybe she put a spell on you."

"Elsa would not do that! She's the nicest person I know." said Olaf.

Kai looked at Olaf. "Do you think she will let me leave? Let us go home?"

"Sure!" Olaf practically jumped off the floor with enthusiasm. He looked past the children and waved. "Hi, Elsa!"

Kai looked to the entrance where Elsa and Anna stood. They both smiled back, and Anna raised her hand and wiggled her fingers at the children.

"Yes, Kai, you can leave." Elsa said, in a gentle voice, as she stood to the side. The two children walked forward, warily. They moved to the side of the entrance, opposite where Elsa stood, then stopped, apparently unwilling to actually come close enough to her to leave the ice prison.

"Maybe you should move over there," Anna said to Elsa, indicating a location well off to the side, away from the entrance. Elsa looked at her, exasperated, annoyed at being treated as a problem. Despite her annoyance, she moved aside, letting the children sidle out. They looked at her, then ran to Anna.

"Would you two like to go home now?" Anna asked.

"Yes, Princess Anna," answered Gerda.

"Who's she?" Kai whispered to Gerda.

"She's the Snow Queen's sister. But she's nice." Then, in a louder voice, so Anna would be sure to hear: "Even if she did fib to me."

"I'm sorry, Gerda. I thought you would be scared of me if you knew. I always wanted to make Kai better so he could go home. So you both could go home. Can we still be friends?"

Gerda nodded.

"Thank you. What do you say we all go to my castle? We can stay there the night, then tomorrow, we'll take a ship to your home." Anna turned to Elsa. "And this time you're not going to leave me behind." She put an arm around Gerda. "They're more comfortable with me anyway."

"Are you sure? Can you handle the effects of the curse?" Elsa asked.

Anna placed a hand on Elsa's shoulder. "I'm sure _we_ can handle it."

Kristoff had seen something inside the ice prison, and had gone inside to look.

Anna looked in, then at Elsa. "Why did you destroy the ice palace, and make this?" she asked, gesturing at the ice prison.

"I made one last attempt to cure Kai, to thaw his spirit. All I did was dispel the palace. I had to make this as a replacement."

"You tried to cure Kai?" Gerda asked, looking at Elsa.

Elsa smiled back. "Yes, I did."

"I remember that," Kia exclaimed. "But all I thought was happening was you were going to free me so we could be together."

Near the back of the ice prison, Kristoff knelt and picked two items off the floor. "There is something odd here."

Anna and the children watched as Kristoff walked back to the entrance. He held two small black rock shards.

"Anyone have any idea what these are?" Kristoff asked.

Elsa walked back to the entrance to take a look. At her approach, the two children retreated behind Anna.

"I don't know. Where did you find them?" asked Elsa.

"It looks like obsidian, except that type of rock is rare in these mountains. There's none here on this hill. I found them in the back of the room, where the two kids were."

Anna looked at Gerda, then at the shards. "Do you think they were what was in Kai?" she asked.

"And she removed them somehow? How could she do that?" asked Elsa.

"We saw her do some strange things. I'll tell you about it later," replied Anna.

"I know someone who will know all about these shards," said Kristoff. Both women knew what he meant. The time had come to visit the trolls again.

"Alright. We'll go tomorrow. It's getting late and the sun's about to set. Let's get back home," said Elsa.

Anna and the children turned and started walking back to where Elsa's horse and Kristoff's sled waited. Elsa paused until the others had walked a short distance ahead of her before following. Once they were all well away from ice prison, Elsa turned to the structure with a determined look on her face. She extended her arm, made a fist and then raised it over her head. A large icicle shot up through the ice prison roof. A second gesture, with both arms, sent two more icicles through the sides. The roof broke and fell, walls shattered, and, in a shower of snow, the entire structure collapsed into a pile of icy rubble.

Anna stared at Elsa, startled at what she had done. She had never seen Elsa so wantonly destructive before.

Elsa turned to her horse and strode past Anna. "You have no idea how good that felt," she said, fiercely.

She had gone only a few steps when a small black figure walked into view from behind a rock pile. The creature came forward with its bat-like wings folded behind its back, regarded Elsa with glowing red eyes, and bowed.

"Queen Elsa," he said, in a sarcastic, condescending voice. "I am Damion. I have come for the child." He pointed to Gerda.

Elsa stopped, examining the creature, a head shorter than herself. She drew herself up, fully adopting her regal poise. "I rule this realm. You have no right to demand anything. You will not take anyone. Leave my land."

"Oh, I'll leave. With her," Damion pointed at Gerda.

From behind her, Elsa heard Kristoff. "Careful, that's a hobgoblin," he warned. "I've heard of them, although I've never seen one."

Elsa raised her right hand to chest height, her upturned palm cradling the white glow of Power. "You have no claim to her," she said. Behind Damion, she saw the two Royal Guardsmen had slowly drawn their swords, and were creeping toward him, trying to catch him by surprise.

Damion took a slow step forward. "Oh, I have every claim. She has Power of her own, Power that stands in my way. Give her to me, or I will take her!"

"You? You can do no such thing."

Damion extended his wings and with a few flaps, jumped into the air. "How about now?"

Elsa eyes followed him upward. Behind Damion, she saw a hundred more hobgoblins flying up from behind a ridge. Her eyes grew wide. She looked about, trying to figure out what to do. She saw the Anna and the others, similarly frozen at the spectacle. Elsa swept her arm at them, pointing to the ice rubble. "Get back! Get to cover!" Then, she turned to the hobgoblins.

Damion flapped in the air, cackling at her. Elsa formed an ice bolt, aimed, and let loose. He easily dodged to the side, his laughter growing. Elsa shot another at him, only to see the ice bolt hit his obsidian hide, and shatter. A few others had turned on the Royal Guardsmen, forcing them to retreat down the road. Coming behind Damion, she saw some of the other hobgoblins flying toward her, each carrying a rock. When they flew within several dozen feet, they threw the rocks at Elsa.

Almost instinctively, Elsa raised a tower of ice to protect herself. Rocks smashed into the structure, which filled with cracks, shattered, and collapsed. Elsa threw her arms across her face to protect herself from the flying shards. As she did so, she took two steps backwards, tripping on a small rock hidden under the snow. She fell, while ice bounced off her armor. Frost splattered outward from where her hands touched the ground. The forward most hobgoblins pealed off to the sides, and a second wave moved in behind them, each taking aim with their rocks. Elsa stood, and ran for the rubble of the ice prison, arms thrown over her head while rocks showering about her.

Off to the side, the two snow monsters tried to bat hobgoblins from the air. The flying creatures had little trouble dodging the snow monster's icy claws. As Elsa reached the rubble, she saw Snowflake catch one and throw it to the ground. Elsa took advantage, and with a quick gesture, entombed the hobgoblin in ice. As she did so, a rock crashed into the ice at her left. Startled, she dove into the rubble, joining Anna, Kristoff and the children.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

The children were terrified, holding each other. Anna had placed herself to cover them, trying to protect and comfort them. Kristoff kneeled, peeking from behind the rubble, trying to see if he could do anything to help. Elsa could see they all were unhurt.

"What are we going to do?" asked Anna.

"Stay down," Elsa raised herself enough to look over the rubble. Marshmallow and Snowflake had wandered farther off, chasing hobgoblins. She saw two hobgoblins using rocks and talons to break free the one she had encased in ice. She started to take aim at the pair, when they broke the last of the ice, and the trapped hobgoblin flew off. One rescuer threw a rock at Elsa's head. She ducked, splinters showering over them all as the rock struck the icy rubble.

Everyone stayed down, protecting themselves from flying ice shards. Rocks continued to hit the ice rubble, gradually destroying their cover. Elsa looked around, not sure what to do. She noticed frost spreading from where her hands rested on the icy rubble. Elsa suddenly realized she was terrified. She felt her fear growing, her heart racing, and her control of the Power slipping. _Should I use my Power? Or will it spray about, without control, hurting everyone?_

The hail of rocks stopped. Elsa started to rise and take a look when she heard claws landing on ice. Several hobgoblins had landed on the rubble, and were closing in.

"Come out, come out, my little snowflake queen," called Damion.

Elsa looked his direction, seeing his black-horned head showing above the ice, his wings slowly flapping.

"You are surrounded. There is no escape. Give us the child!"

Reflexively, Elsa moved to cover the children with her body, to protect them for as long as possible.

A crossbow bolt shot over Damion's head. A second punctured his wing, making a jagged hole as if the skin were glass.

"What? Who dares?" Damion looked off to the side, and then took flight. His companions followed.

Elsa raised herself and saw Captain Lars had arrived, accompanied by a dozen Royal Guard. They made for the Queen's position, only to be quickly cut off by a cloud of hobgoblins. Captain Lars came forward as far as he could.

"Your Majesty!" Lars raised his right fist and brought it down. "Be strong!"

"He's right," Elsa whispered to herself. "I'm doing it again. I'm panicking." Then louder: "It's time to fight!" She vaulted over the rubble.

Elsa strode forward, with her last step planting her foot solidly on the ground. The snow transformed into an ice sheet, spreading outwards. Before her, she could see Lars' men pinned down, fending off the hobgoblins with swords and shields. The hobgoblins had all been distracted by the arrival of the guard. Now, several saw Elsa and broke off, flying back toward her. They took aim with their rocks.

Elsa waited until they were about to let loose, then, with a gesture, she raised a wall of ice, a dozen feet high and yard thick. The rocks hit, chipping and cracking the ice, doing little overall damage. A few hobgoblins, those who had not yet thrown their rocks, flew to the left and right to get around the wall. Elsa followed the three going right, ready to catch them as they came in range. Focusing on them, she barely felt Anna's hand on her shoulder.

As each hobgoblin came around the ice wall, the creature would hover for a moment to take aim with a rock. Elsa took advantage, hitting the enemy with her Power to entomb the creature in ice. After those three were falling from the sky, she turned to get the two who had gone to the left. Anna stood beside her, one hand on Elsa's shoulder, the other arm outstretched to the left. The two hobgoblins lay on the ground before her, covered in ice.

With an ear to ear grin on her face Anna turned to Elsa. "This is sort of fun. You should have told me about . . . LOOK OUT!"

Elsa turned to see a storm of rocks hitting her wall. Despite the thickness of the ice, the wall could not stand that onslaught. Elsa pulled Anna to her, turned her back to the wall, and covered her sister. Ice and rock showered about them. As the debris cleared, the two stood.

"Are you all right?" asked Elsa.

"I think so. Are you?"

"A few bruises. I'll be feeling this tomorrow."

"That armor really works. Do you think maybe I could get some?"

"You're asking now? Get back to cover!" Elsa ordered. "Protect the children."

"Kristoff and Olaf have them. I'm staying here. The best way to save the children to take _them_ out." Anna pointed to the hobgoblins. They had flown off to get more rocks.

"Their tactics are odd, why didn't they press their advantage? Maybe they don't know how. They're not acting like a fighting force, just a mob," Elsa said, thoughtfully.

The hobgoblins returned, and started circling around, Damion trying to organize them to attack from multiple directions at once.

Elsa took her sister's left hand. "If you're going to stay, you need to do two things. First, don't get lost in the Power."

"And the other?"

"Don't hold back!"

Elsa looked across the battlefield. "Marshmallow! Snowflake! Here, stand over the children, protect them!"

The two snow monsters lumbered back to the rubble and took their positions. Elsa looked to Lars, and saw he and his men still pinned in a defensive position by several hobgoblins. She made two new walls extending from herself to either side of the guards. Lars understood her intent and took advantage. "To the Queen!" he ordered.

Damion suddenly realized he was losing control of the battle, and abandoned his attempts for an organized attack. Desperately, he urged everyone forward.

"Walls!" Elsa called to Anna. Elsa moved forward, turning to the left. Left hand in left hand, Anna spun around to face to the right. Both gestured with their right hands, raising walls from the ice sheet. Elsa looked at the one made by her sister. "Wider, thicker! Remember, don't hold back!"

With annoyance showing, Anna swept her hand upward a second time. As her wall grew, the ice, by chance, trapped a hobgoblin who had been trying to fly in, claws extended.

A few hobgoblins had let loose with their rocks prematurely, right when the sisters formed their walls. The projectiles thudded into the ice ineffectually. The others started circling around or flying upward, trying to get a clear shot.

The Royal Guard flooded in, surrounding the two women. Lars walked to Elsa and shoved a helmet at her. "You forgot something," he snarled angrily. Elsa took the helmet, looked at it for a few seconds, then turned and placed it on Anna's head.

"What's this for? Are you sure?" Anna asked.

"You said you wanted armor. Now duck!" responded Elsa.

"Raise shields!" called Lars. Rocks rained from above as everyone ducked under the protective cover. Elsa stood and caught several hobgoblins as they started to fly off to get more rocks. She turned with a dance-like motion, sweeping a hand at the wall. Power flowed, repairing the cracks. Anna followed her lead, turning, catching a few enemies herself. Soft thuds could be heard when a rock hit a snow monster and became buried in their bulk.

Anna saw one female hobgoblin flying toward her at high speed, screaming, wings tucked in, claws extended. Anna aimed, and covered her in ice. The hobgoblin, already at high speed, continued falling toward Anna's head. Anna gathered some Power, and pushed the hobgoblin away as hard as she could. The hobgoblin virtually stopped, mid-air, and fell to the ground. At the same time, Anna was thrown backwards, into two guardsmen. All three fell in a tangle.

Elsa felt her sister's hand ripped from her own. Turning, she said, "You need brace yourself. When you push with the Power, it pushes back just has hard."

"Nice to know. Good tip," Anna said, as she climbed back to her feet and reseated her helmet on her head. "Shall we finish this?" Anna extended her hand and Elsa took it.

With Elsa and Anna defended by shields and ice walls, the hobgoblins didn't stand a chance. Several tried to rush the group. They were met with swords and icy claws. Marshmallow caught one and threw him to the ground at Elsa's feet. The hobgoblin tried to crawl away, while a guardsman fended the creature off with his sword. He did not get far before Elsa covered him with ice. Anna swept her arm in a wide arc, and a wave of snow caught several, knocking them to the ground. Before they could recover, they, too, were entombed.

Hand in hand, the two women danced and fired. Hobgoblins rained to the ground. Within seconds, only a few remained in the air. They flapped off to a safe distance. Elsa took aim, attempting to catch them despite the range.

"Wait," advised Lars. "Let's see what they have to say."

"You won't get away with this! We'll get you!" one screamed.

Another, a fallen hobgoblin shouted back, "Gnash! What are you doing? You cannot leave me here! Come back and fight!"

"This is all your fault, Damion. We never should have followed you here. We should have taken the girl while she as all alone in the woods, like I wanted."

"You coward! Get back here and free me!"

Two hobgoblins came forward, flying to where Damion lay encased in ice. "Those you should get," suggested Lars.

"I'll take left," Elsa said to Anna. They both fired, and two more enemies lay encased ice. The remaining hobgoblins screamed in rage and fled.

Elsa released her grip on Anna.

"Whooo whee!" Anna raised her hands over her head and spun around, skipping. "We have _got_ to do this more often!"

"Calm down, it's over." Elsa turned to where Kristoff and the children hid.

Kristoff stood, brushing some snow and ice shards away. "We're all fine," he said.

Anna swept the helmet off her head, tossing it aside. She ran to Kristoff, grabbed him and gave him a big kiss. "Did you see me?" she said, excitedly.

"Some of it. You were amazing! But, I was sort of busy." Kristoff looked at the two children.

"Oh, right. That was so exciting!" Anna jumped onto a piece of rubble. "I feel wonderful!" She balanced on one foot, spun around, and then let herself fall toward Kristoff. He caught her in his arms and spoke to Elsa. "This is like when Sven gets a fresh bag of carrots."

Anna ignored the comment and looked at the children. "Here, let's get you two out of there." She slipped from Kristoff's arms, and, along with a guardsman, extracted Gerda and Kai from their hiding place. They looked basically all right, although shaken. Anna climbed through the rubble, and both children moved to her side and held onto her.

Suddenly, Olaf's head fell from the sky, landing with a thump on an ice wall. "That did not work at all," he said, looking quite disappointed. "Little help please?" He looked around, and saw a snowball rolling toward the base of the wall. "Oh, look! There's a foot!"

Elsa waved her hand and brought Olaf back together. "What happened to you?" she asked.

"Hobgoblin, claws, rocks. I did have a nice flight," replied Olaf.

Slowly, they all filed out between the walls and various pieces of icy debris. Soon, everyone had gotten clear, fallen hobgoblins on every side. Elsa surveyed the battlefield, catching Captain Lars' eye. He nodded back to her, looking proud. Then he looked at Anna.

Captain Lars walked to where Elsa's helmet lay, and with some frustration, picked it up. He carried the headgear back to Anna. "Never leave your equipment scattered about the field," he said, presenting her the helmet. "You never know when you might need it."

Taking the helmet, Anna looked at Lars, her eyes twinkling with excitement. "As long as you're training Elsa, can you train me too?" she asked.

"I don't see why not. You need to be able to protect yourself as much as the Queen does," the Captain replied. He looked to Elsa to see if she would allow it.

Elsa opened her mouth, preparing to deny the request, and then realized the utter futility of trying to prevent Anna from doing anything she really wanted to do. Resignedly, she nodded to Lars.

"Fine," said Lars. "As you have no Power of your own, I'll teach you how to use a sword, among other things. You are right handed?"

Anna practically jumped for joy. "This is going to be so much fun! Yes I am, but I can do most anything with my left that I can do with my right."

"Interesting. Maybe you can learn to fight with two swords. We will see how much 'fun' you have on your first run from Arendelle to the top of this hill while wearing armor."

Anna calmed a bit. "Really?" she said. A Royal Guardsman, standing behind Lars, caught Anna's eye and gave a knowing nod.

Elsa lowered her head, placed a hand to her forehead and slowly shook her head back and forth.

"What's wrong?" Kristoff asked.

"I just had a vision of Anna running around Arendelle with two swords," Elsa said.

"Don't worry. Responsible use of all weaponry is part of my training," explained Lars.

Hearing that, Anna put her hands on her hips, flushed with anger and embarrassment. "All I want is to be better prepared for the next time I run into something like those robbers!"

Elsa looked concerned. "Robbers? What robbers?"

"We ran into some on the way to Finnoa, in the foothills, before the eastern plains," explained Kristoff.

"Don't worry," Anna said, somewhat off-handedly. "There were only six of them. They didn't even have swords. Just clubs and crossbows."

"They threatened you with crossbows?" Elsa said, with increasing concern.

"Oh, they weren't very good with them. They kept missing."

"They _shot_ at you with crossbows?" Elsa took a step toward her sister, her concern clearly showing.

"I can send some men to round them up," offered Lars.

"You do that," Elsa said. She looked back to the fallen Hobgoblins. "Marshmallow, Snowflake, gather the hobgoblins and pile them over there." Elsa ordered, pointing to the south side of the hilltop, where the ground rose sharply. Then to Lars, "What do we do with all of them?"

"My men can take care of them," replied Lars.

"It will be better if I took care of them," said a new voice.

They all turned and saw a troll standing nearby.

Kristoff took a step forward. "Pabbie! What are you doing here? What are you doing outside your valley?"

"We are needed here." As he spoke, several other rocks rolled forward and turned into trolls. Pabbie walked to where Damion lay, little more than his head and wingtips protruding from the ball of ice. "Damion, what mischief have you gotten into now?"

Startled, Elsa asked, "You two know each other?"

Pabbie turned to Elsa, lowering his head a bit. "Your Majesty, I regret to say we do. We and the hobgoblins are . . . related."

"Oh, Pabbie, you should have seen it. It was so beautiful, so evil," bragged Damion.

"What was?" asked Elsa.

Damion looked at Elsa, and replied with nothing more than a cackling laugh.

Kristoff approached Pabbie. "Maybe it has something to do with these?" He opened his hand, revealing the two small obsidian shards. Pabbie held out his hand, and Kristoff placed the two shards in his palm. Pabbie placed his other hand, palm down, on the first. A yellow glow emanated from between his hands.

Pabbie turned to Elsa. "Your Majesty, I must apologize. When I heard of the trouble at Cliffdale, when I saw Kai, I had not considered this possibility." He turned back to Damion. "Why did you shatter it?"

"Shatter what?" asked Elsa, her frustration showing.

"That part was an accident," Damion admitted. "But it was still glorious! All the shards fell over that village. It was so fun watching it die. And the village will still die. There is nothing you can do to stop it!" Damion had directed his last comment at Elsa.

Pabbie turned to Elsa. "There exists a spell, difficult to perform, and requiring rare materials. I thought it beyond the capability of Damion and his tribe. This spell makes a mirror, one that distorts all that it reflects."

"The mirror distorts nothing! It shows everyone the way the world really is!"

Pabbie ignored Damion's outburst. "Were you to look into this mirror, all reflections of things that are good would be diminished in size, and all that are ugly would be magnified."

Elsa and the others exchanged glances, comprehension beginning to replace confusion. "These shards, they are part of that mirror? And they got into Kai? They poisoned him?"

"Yes. With the shards in him he could see nothing but ugliness wherever he looked." Pabbie looked at the two children, taking a few steps closer. Both retreated farther behind Anna.

"It's all right," Anna reassured them.

"This one, the girl, this wonderful girl. She cured him?" Pabbie looked to Elsa for confirmation.

"We think so, but we have no idea how. Kai appeared to get better when Gerda embraced him." Anna said.

"Did her tears fall upon the boy?" asked Pabbie.

"It's possible. Both of them had fallen to the floor."

"It is one of her gifts. Her tears have the Power to lift curses."

"I touched those shards. Am I going to be all right?" asked Kristoff, sounding worried.

"Her tears have the power to counter the enchantment. The shards are no longer a danger to anyone," replied Pabbie.

"What about Cliffdale? How do we cure an entire village?" asked Elsa.

"Working together, you have the capability to do so."

"How?"

"You will know when the time comes."

Elsa looked at Pabbie, exasperated. She had become weary of the riddles.

Anna walked to Elsa and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't let it get to you. I'll explain later," she said, quietly.

Twilight had begun to descend on the hilltop. Through the gloom, Elsa could see the snow monsters had finished gathering the fallen hobgoblins. She suddenly realized she had created a problem for herself. What does one do with giant snow monsters when you don't need them any more? She decided to ask them.

"Your tasks here are done. What do you two want to do with yourselves?"

The two snow monsters looked at each other, and then turned to Elsa. "Stay here with you. It gets lonely in the mountains."

"I cannot have these two at the castle," Elsa said softly. "They'll scare all the visitors."

Olaf heard her comment. "Why? No one is scared of me. Well, almost no one. At least not anymore."

"Look at them, they're giants. You aren't."

"Why do they have to be giants?"

"Maybe they don't," Elsa said, uncertainly. "Let me try something."

She extended both hands toward the two snow monsters. Power flowed, enveloping them both in a white cloud of snowflakes. When the snow cleared, both Marshmallow and Snowflake were smaller, about as high as Olaf.

"Are you two all right?" Elsa asked.

Marshmallow looked at himself. "I'm small," he said, in an elevated, but still deep voice.

"So am I," said Snowflake, in a higher voice. Elsa looked at the small snow monster, noticing certain details for the first time.

"Why, you're a woman!"

Snowflake looked at Elsa in surprise. "You didn't know? You made me."

"Hello, gorgeous," Olaf said, as he sidled to Snowflake's side. Marshmallow looked at the pair with suspicion, arms folded across his chest.

More trolls rolled in, each collecting a hobgoblin and carrying it off. Elsa decided she did not want to know what fate awaited them. She walked to Lars. "Are all you men in good shape?"

"Some cuts and bruises, nothing serious," he replied.

"Including the two men who were stationed here?"

"Right here, Your Majesty," one of them replied.

"Good. No need for you to stay here anymore, there is nothing left to guard." She turned to the Anna and the others. "Shall we try to get home now? I want to get out of this armor."

"You could always turn it into another ice gown," suggested Anna.

Elsa considered, closed her eyes, and dropped her hands to her sides, palms down, fingers angled outward.

"Your Majesty, please don't," requested Lars.

Elsa gave him a little smile, turned, and walked to her horse.

* * *

><p><strong>In "Frozen" it was established that Elsa's Power obeys Newton's third law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This was when child Elsa propelled herself, Anna and Olaf about in the Ball room. I like it when fantasy stories make use of the real laws of physics for dramatic effect, rather than the cop-out "It does not work like that because it's magic".<strong>

**There goes ice palace #3! OK, maybe not a palace, but it still got destroyed.**


	13. The Rain of a Child's Tear

The day after setting sail from Arendelle found Elsa sitting by the port railing of the _Snowburst_, watching the shoreline creep by. She had dressed casually, and had not bothered putting her hair up, or wearing her crown. Gentle waves rocked the ship as it sailed beneath a sky streaked with high clouds.

Elsa still had no idea what to do once she arrived at Cliffdale. Worry and concern filled her, along with dread that she would fail yet again.

She had discussed the matter with Anna after they had returned to the castle and put the children to bed.

"I don't get it, why do the trolls have to talk in riddles?" Elsa said, her exasperation showing.

"Kristoff told me his thoughts. He thinks the trolls don't actually know what to do," Anna related.

"How can that be?"

"He thinks the trolls know we can deal with the problem, but not the details of what we should do. Like Pabbie knew we needed to travel to the eastern plains to find what we needed, but did not know we would find Gerda."

"So now he thinks if we all go to Cliffdale, we can figure out how to lift the curse?"

"Something like that, yes."

Elsa had never considered that the trolls were less than infallible, or all knowing. She had gone to bed confused and worried.

Anna, speaking softly from behind, interrupted her thoughts. "It's all right, you can ask her."

Turning, she saw Anna standing at the stairs to the lower decks with the two children ahead of her, a hand on the shoulder of each.

Gerda spoke. "Miss Your Majesty Snow Queen Elsa?" Apprehension showed in her voice.

Elsa smiled. "You can call me Elsa, or Queen Elsa if you wish."

"Is it true you cannot feel love?"

"What?" Elsa showed exaggerated surprise. "Of course I can feel love. Why would you think I could not?"

"I thought you couldn't feel anything. Not cold, not love, nothing. My father said you couldn't," said Kai.

"Well, I don't know why he would say such a thing. Maybe all he needs is to get to know me better. I can feel love, joy, everything you can. I can also feel cold. It's just . . . well, have you ever gone outside and played in the snow?"

The two children looked at each other, smiled a little, and nodded back to Elsa.

"You know how you can get so excited, you do not notice that it's cold, or if you do, it doesn't bother you?"

Again the two children looked at each other, then nodded back to Elsa, smiling more broadly.

"Well, it's like that. I can feel the cold, it just doesn't bother me."

"Why did you cause that storm?" complained Kai. "My father couldn't do his job for three days."

Elsa looked down for a moment. "I'm sorry I did that. It was an accident. I lost control of my Power. I promise you I'll do my very best to insure it never happens again."

Both children took a few steps forward, with Gerda leading. She reached to Elsa's sleeve to feel the fabric.

"That's not ice," Gerda commented.

"I don't wear the ice gown every day. Here on the ship it's better to dress casually."

"Queen Elsa?" Kai began. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? For what?"

"I said I would stay with you forever. But now I want to go home, to my parents."

"There is nothing to be sorry for. I knew you were sick. Those shards were affecting you. Once you were cured, I expected you to change your mind."

"I remember when they fell on me. I was lying down, looking up at the sky. There was haze up there. But I thought they had fallen back out. Then everything was different and ugly. How did Gerda get them out?"

"Yeah, how?" Gerda added.

"Well, it seems your tears have Power. Surely you have noticed that before?"

"My tears? The flowers! They grew where my tears fell. But that never happened before I went after you and Kai."

"Well, maybe you did not need it before. My Power has always been with me."

"You can make snow with your hands?" she asked.

"Would you like to see?" She motioned the children to come to the railing. She extended a hand, and made a large pile of snow in the water, a few yards off the side. They all watched it bob in the waves, drifting past, as the ship sailed onward.

"I told you," said Kai. Then his face lit up. "Can you make a snow seal?"

"Well, let me try."

Anna walked back to the bridge where Captain Eric stood at the wheel. "It's nice to see her like this, playing with the children."

"Aye. This is a happier voyage than the last. Princess Anna, would you like to try your hand at helm duty?"

"Me? Are you sure that's safe?"

"I will remain at your side." Most everyone in the kingdom knew Princess Anna of Arendelle would enthusiastically try most anything. They had also learned to keep a close eye on what she actually did.

Smiling, Anna moved behind the wheel, looking to the Captain for any instructions.

"Steady as she goes," he said.

"What does that mean?"

"You should keep the ship traveling on its current course, correcting for any disturbances caused by the seas."

Off to the side, Anna noticed another snow sculpture float by. "That's a good one" she said, admiring the snow dragon.

"A little to port," instructed Eric. Anna turned the wheel. "Your other port," he said.

"Oops," Anna said as she turned the wheel the other way.

"I wish we knew what to do once we get to Cliffdale," she said wistfully.

"Perhaps you need to be there. We're making good speed. We should arrive tomorrow morning."

_Who am I? The Snow Queen, or the Queen of Arendelle? _Elsa sat on her bed looking in the mirror, once again wondering about herself. She also worried about what to do when they arrived. She felt the motion of the ship subside, indicating they had entered the harbor. Yet she had no idea how to help Cliffdale. Despite her uncertainty, she could clearly see who she needed to be today.

For inspiration, she dressed, and made herself up to appear as she had when she first accepted her Power, wearing the ice gown with her hair down. She made two compromises to her look, wearing Anna's gifts: the tailored version of the gown, and the silver ring crown. Folding the train of her gown across her arm, she left her room, and made her way on deck. Everyone else wore warm clothes against the cold morning air. A few low, grey clouds drifted through an otherwise blue sky.

The ship stood a hundred yards off the dock. A small boat with four of the ship's crewmen on board had been lowered to the water, and they were rowing to the dock. Captain Eric saw Elsa, and walked to her side.

"All the harbor facilities appear to be abandoned. I'm sending some men to the pier to handle the lines."

Elsa saw Anna and the children near the bow, and walked to them. The two children looked at her, fear showing on their faces. "What's wrong? Can you fix it?" asked Kai.

"I'll do my best. You two need to be strong. I don't know what we'll find there."

They all watched and waited, as the crew guided the ship into dock, and made the ship fast with the mooring lines. Soon the men lowered the gangplank into place.

"Do you think we should take the children with us?" Anna asked.

"Remember what Pabbie said," replied Elsa. "All of us need to be there." Then to Eric, "Captain, please assign me four men."

Anna, Elsa, Kai and Gerda all crossed the gangplank to the dock. Captain Eric ordered two men already ashore, plus two others, to accompany them. Together, they all moved along the dock toward the village. Once she cleared the gangplank, Elsa checked behind herself before releasing the train of her gown.

They reached the dock's end, and moved into the village proper. The warehouses near the water's edge stank of rotting fish, the smell worse than Elsa's last visit. As they moved onward, they looked down side streets that seemed devoid of life. The smell of decay joined the smell of rot. Then, they heard a scream in the distance. Other signs of life became evident. In an alley, a figure moved quickly from one doorway to another. From a nearby building, they heard a woman sobbing.

Anna saw a man, wearing filthy, torn clothing, lying on the ground in the shadows, near a barrel. She approached to check on him.

"Sir? Are you all right?"

He looked at her, and screamed in terror. He scrambled off a short distance, stumbled to his feet, and ran away. Anna turned back to the group, looking both worried and scared.

"Are you all right?" Elsa asked her.

"Should we really be here? This place feels hopeless. Can we really do anything? Maybe we should just go home."

Elsa took Anna by the shoulders. "Anna, don't lose hope. It's the curse; it's affecting you. Fight it!"

Anna closed her eyes and nodded. "Right. The curse. Let's keep going."

Elsa turned to a seaman. "Go to the palace. Tell King Ragnar we're here. Tell him we are going to Kai's house."

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said. The seaman gave a short bow, and moved off.

"Let's at least get Gerda and Kai back to their parents," Elsa said to the others.

The group walked uphill, along the main road, and then turned onto the side street Elsa remembered from her first visit. Soon, they came to the two houses connected by the planter boxes. On seeing his house, Kai ran up the steps to the front door. He tried to work the latch, only to find it locked. He banged on the door.

"Mommy? Daddy?"

No one answered his call. He turned, looking at the others, wondering what to do. Elsa held out her hand, calling him back.

Anna took Gerda's hand. "Let's try yours." They went to Gerda's house and knocked on the door. Shortly, Gerda's mother opened the door.

"So, you came back?" she said. "What makes you think we want you back? You ran away. You're a very naughty child."

"But I found Kai. I brought him back. He's better now." Gerda replied.

"No child of mine would run away. Go away! I never want to see you again!" She slammed the door in Gerda's face. Everyone stood there, stunned. Gerda stood very still, trembling, unable to understand what just happened. She began to cry.

"No, I need to stay strong," she said in a tiny voice. She raised a hand to wipe her face.

"No, wait," Elsa said, as she walked to Gerda. She reached to Gerda's cheek. On the tip of her finger, Elsa caught a single tear, stared at it for a moment, and then gave Anna an uncertain look.

Anna looked back, and gently shook her head in confusion.

Then Elsa smiled her sly little smile and passed one hand over the other. A ball of snow began to build between her hands, the tear trapped within. Power gathered about her as she concentrated on the ball. She planned to make this snowball large, but more importantly, she wanted to launch the ball high. Snow and Power continued to gather, circling about her ever faster.

"Everyone, get back, give her room!" Anna called to the others, yelling to be heard above the roar of the wind whipping about Elsa. They all backed off, leaving Elsa alone in the middle of the road. Power and snow swirled around her, mostly hiding her from view.

_This time there will be no compromise_ she thought, and launched the ball upward. With her right arm extended vertically, she continued to push the ball into the sky. The Power, swirling about her, spiraled into the ball's wake, forming a column of light and snow. Elsa felt the ball's weight crushing back into her hand, the strain threatening to drive her to her knees. Refusing to give up, she continued forcing the ball ever higher. Silence fell as everyone watched the ball climb, the roar of wind replaced by the gentle hiss of Power emanating from Elsa's hand. The ball climbed, higher than the clouds, higher than the top of the cliff. Finally, she let it explode. A white cloud slowly spread across the sky.

Elsa collapsed to the ground, physically spent. Frost spread from where her hands hit the road.

"Elsa!" Anna yelled, as she ran to help Elsa to her feet. Reaching for her, Anna could see Elsa was losing control of her Power.

Elsa reached and took Anna's hand. Exhaustion showed in her voice. "You'll have to finish it, do the last step," she stated, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"What? What last step?"

"Bring back summer."

"But I'll destroy all the snow you just made."

Elsa shook her head. "No, you only need warm the air," she said, weakly.

"That's possible? I can do that?"

"I know you can."

"But . . . . "

Elsa looked up at the snow, still falling, still well above the ground. "Do it! Quickly!" She sagged back down, while continuing to hold on to Anna's hand.

Anna had never done this before, never tried this other aspect of Elsa's Power. Even so, she remembered what Elsa had told her. She looked at her sister, and felt their love. Closing her eyes, she slowly swept her arm around herself.

The air warmed. A soft summer breeze blew across the village. As the still-falling snow encountered the warming air, each flake melted to a drop of liquid.

The rain of a child's tear fell across the village.

Rain began to patter on the ground around the group. The smell of a fresh spring shower replaced the rot and decay scent. They watched, as the village appeared to change before their eyes. Moments earlier, Anna saw Kia's home as a dingy old building. Now she saw the structure as quaint. Nothing had actually changed, yet everything looked different.

With Anna's help, Elsa regained her footing. She turned her head to the sky and let the rain wash away her fatigue.

An ugly old woman stormed from a house across the street, her deeply lined face twisted with anger and hate. She pinned Elsa in her gaze. "What nonsense is going on now? What have you done? Why I ought to . . . " She stopped and looked up. Rain fell on her face.

A beautiful, old woman looked at Elsa, who could hardly believe she was seeing the same person. The old woman's smiling face showed lines of character and wisdom. "Look at everything!" she said. "Look how beautiful it all is!" She slowly turned about.

Someone grabbed Elsa's hand and spun her around. A man she had never seen before took her other hand and began to dance. "Oh, everything is so wonderful!" He exclaimed. He released her and danced off along the street. Other people began coming out. The street slowly filled with happy, dancing people.

Elsa turned, and saw Kai back at the door to his house, now open. His parents were standing there, hugging him. She walked to Gerda. "Go try again," she suggested.

Gerda started moving to her house, then stood still, fearing what she would find. Anna came up behind her.

"Let's do it together." They ascended the steps to the door, and knocked. The door flew open and Gerda's mother stepped out, her faced filled with anger. She stood looking at Gerda, who backed into Anna, bracing for the worst. Then, her mother's face changed.

"Oh, Gerda! It's you!" She stooped and took her daughter into her arms, then called for her husband.

As Elsa watched Gerda being reunited with her parents, she heard someone call her from the side.

"Queen Elsa!"

She looked to see who called her. The Royal Guard of Cliffdale walked along the road toward her, along with the seaman she had sent to the castle.

"The King requests your presence."

Elsa raised a hand, "I will be available in a minute." She turned back to Gerda. Her father had come from the house to welcome his daughter home. Gerda's mother saw Elsa's approach.

"Did you bring our daughter home?"

"Yes. She is a very talented little girl. She helped save your village. You should be proud of her."

Gerda's mother knelt, lowering herself to Gerda. "We have always been proud of you." Then to Elsa, "Thank you. Would you like to come in? Get out of the rain?"

"Not now, thank you. I have to see the King. I will try to return and see you before going home."

Elsa waved, and walked to where Kai and his family were standing.

"You did it! You cured our son! Thank you so much!" said his mother.

"I didn't cure Kai. He was cured by his friend, Gerda."

Kai parents looked across to Gerda's, and exchanged waves and smiles.

Gerda's parents gave Elsa a hug. Elsa turned to Kai. "I need to go now. I'll try and come back to say goodbye before leaving for home."

"Can I come and visit you?"

"Of course you can! Now be good."

Elsa gave Kai one last hug, and then turned to the Royal Guardsmen. She noticed the rain had gotten heavier. No longer a light shower, she and everyone else began to get wet.

"Your Majesty, this way." The guard led the way through the village, winding their way through the crowded streets, in a generally northward direction. Anna and the four seamen brought up the rear. Ahead they could see the great cliff looming over them, then the walls and turrets of King Ragnar's castle came into view. Drawing on her training, Elsa could see that, by virtue of being built against the cliff, the castle had a strong rear defense.

All the happy people celebrating in the streets slowed their progress toward the castle. Several wanted to dance with Anna and Elsa. The two sisters found the villager's enthusiasm hard to resist; everyone bubbled with infectious happiness. About half way to the castle, Elsa saw the King making his way toward them. Everyone parted enough to let the two monarch's approach and face each other.

"Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty."

They both gave each other a little bow.

"You did it. The curse has been lifted," said King Ragnar.

"It was not my efforts alone," Elsa gave a short explanation of what she, Gerda, and Anna had done.

"I knew Gerda had the power to break the curse. She had done it with Kai. But I couldn't figure out how to use it. I couldn't ask her to cry all over the entire village." Elsa said, finishing her explanation.

"And it took just one tear to do it all. It's amazing."

Elsa raised her hand, palm up, and created some snow. With her other hand she reached to Anna and pulled her close. "One tear, with a little help."

As they talked, the rain grew stronger, turning into a downpour. Everyone reflexively reached for their cloak, folding the cloth over their heads for protection. Elsa reached for her cape, and found herself holding a handful of gossamer web work cloth, decorated with snowflake patterns. Resignedly, she looked into the rain. _It's just a little liquid snow, it will not hurt me,_ she thought.

"Perhaps we best to get to my castle," Ragnar suggested. He turned and led the way.

Anna came to Elsa's side. "What about this rain? Do you think we caused some new disaster?"

"I hope not," replied Elsa. "I could try something to stop it, but I don't want to make things worse. Especially now, I'm not feeling at my best. Let's wait a bit before interfering again."

The heavy rain had caused most of the villagers to retreat indoors, allowing the group to make good speed through the streets. As they approached the castle wall, the wind started to whip up, blowing the rain sideways. By the time they arrived at the castle gates, everyone had gotten almost as soaked as Elsa.

The guards let them in immediately. A short walk across the courtyard brought them to the entryway.

Once inside, Anna struggled out of her dripping cloak. "That's some storm. I'm soaked."

"You think you're soaked?" asked Elsa.

Anna looked at her dripping wet sister, tried her best to suppress a giggle, and failed. "Maybe you should have worn something else? Why didn't you just . . . ?" Anna waved her hands over her head like she was trying to use Elsa's Power.

"You may have seen how I lost control a bit? I was so spent after launching that snowball I couldn't even stand. I was not sure what would happen if I tried to use my Power. Even after I started to recover, the villagers surrounded us, taking my hands to dance with me. I didn't want to risk hurting anyone."

"Do you think your efforts caused this storm?" the King asked Elsa.

"Most likely. I have never tried using my Power this way before. I had no idea something like this would happen."

Servants brought in towels, and began handing them out. Everyone began trying to dry off. Elsa handed her crown to a seaman, and began drying her hair.

Anna walked to a window and looked out. "It looks like the rain is letting up. I think we just set off a summer shower." She examined the sky in different directions. "I can even see some blue up there."

"Good. I really did not want to try to use my Power to stop the storm. It's better to let nature take care of the weather," Elsa said, looking at everyone trying to get dry. "At least it wasn't a _cold_ rain."

Anna put her hands on her hips and looked at her sister, frowning. Everyone else stopped and gaped at Elsa in disbelief.

Elsa smiled, looking embarrassed. "Oh, right."

* * *

><p><strong>So that's what the title means!<strong>

**I got the idea for this ending when I saw an episode of "Secrets of the Earth" where it was pointed out that virtually all rain is actually melted snow.**


	14. Sisters

Back home, Anna entered the dining room, and saw that Elsa was already there, sitting down to breakfast. Anna could not help notice the clothes Elsa wore. Her dark golden dress, decorated with green and red rosemaling over a light yellow shirt, were the same as her own. Additionally, she had re-done her hair in Anna's style, with twin braids draped on her chest. She was not wearing her the silver crown; it was set on the table to her side.

_What is this, payback for copying her precious ice gown? We'll see about that!_ Anna thought. She straightened herself, and adopted her best regal poise. Elsa turned to her as she approached.

"Your Majesty." Anna gave a small bow. "May I say I have never seen you look so lovely. You are truly a vision of beauty such as has never been seen on this world."

The two sisters succeeded in holding each other's gaze for a full five seconds before dissolving into laughter.

"It's good to be home," Elsa said as Anna sat. A servant brought Anna a plate of food.

"It is. That sure was a remarkable feast King Ragnar threw for us."

"Yes it was. It was also nice of him to invite Kai, Gerda, and their families."

"How many ice sculptures did you end up making?"

"I lost count. After the first two, everyone wanted one. I began to feel like a side show circus act." Elsa ate another bite before continuing. "How's Kristoff doing?"

"He just received several large orders from Cliffdale. Their fishing fleet is going back to sea, and they're trying to refill their stock before winter gets too much deeper. Most of their fish stores had rotted when everyone just stopped caring."

"I remember the smell. I'm surprised Kristoff has much in the way of inventory. At this time of year, ice supply runs low, and it's not been cold enough long enough for new ice to have formed."

"I told him he could cut up the rubble from the ice prison."

Elsa put her fork down and lowered her head. She did not like thinking about that structure. "I guess it's good that it will be used for something useful."

"Are you going to make a new ice palace?"

"Not right away. I doubt we will get many visitors before spring. I may wait until then."

Elsa looked at her plate for a few seconds. She looked up at Anna, appearing worried and concerned.

"Anna, what's in me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Kai saw a darkness, a beautiful, dark evil in me."

"He was sick, poisoned by those shards. You cannot take anything he said as the truth."

"That mirror did not create lies, it distorted what was already there. He must have seen evil in me."

"So you have a dark side. We all do." Anna reached for the ring crown, holding it up as an example. "You wear this with your hair down despite Johan's recommendation, and sometimes you cheat at snowball fights. That's hardly evil."

"He saw an evil in me that he did not see in anyone else. What's in me?" Elsa said, growing more distressed.

"Maybe he saw your Power. After all, when your dark side gets together with your Power, it can get a little end-of-the-world, crazy scary."

Elsa's eyes widened a bit, and her shoulders slumped.

Anna waved her hands. "I don't mean it like that. Just because you could destroy everything doesn't mean you want to."

Elsa looked even more distressed. Anna lowered her head a bit, realizing she was digging herself in deeper. She raised her head and caught Elsa's gaze.

"Elsa, you are not evil. Look what you did in Cliffdale. You put the entire village ahead of yourself. No evil person would do that."

Elsa closed her eyes for a moment. "You're right. But Anna, what am I? Who am I? A circus act? The Snow Queen? A monster? The Queen of Arendelle? Who?"

Anna placed her hands on Elsa's arms. "I've always known who you are."

"Who?"

"You're my sister, Elsa, and no one else."

The Queen of Arendelle smiled, took Anna's hand, and said, "I guess, in the end, that's all that matters."

* * *

><p><strong>If my story can be said to have a theme, it's Elsa asking, "Who am I?"<strong>

**Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to leave feedback.  
><strong>

**If you wish to read the prequel (still being worked upon), see "Summer of Ice".**


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